KIA
by Lady Two-Bit
Summary: Baced on the new cartoon on the fox box, a young vet named Kia thinks she has a normal life. That is until she is given an asinment to keep a 5 foot, talking rat alive. A rat that is dying from the loss of his son's. Maby. Finished
1. Dead

**KIA**  
  
Part I

The car park was relatively empty as it should be at four o'clock in the morning. A garbage truck was just passing, scooping the filth of the city into its tray at the back. It got out the way just in time for a solitary car to come flying into the car park and stop crazily at an angle beside a wall.   
  
One person got out, slamming the door in her haste. Dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt she jogged to the double doors that led into the office of radiology and consumer affairs.   
  
By the doors a tall man stood waiting for her.   
  
"David." She called, hurrying over, "What's so urgent?"  
  
"I have a patient for you." He replied, his crew cut black hair giving him a sharp, military look, "Came in five minutes before I called you."  
  
The girl hurried beside the man, flicking her soft, short black hair out of her face to expose two very blue eyes.   
  
"Why me?" She asked, grabbing a white coat from a rack of many and putting it on without stopping, "You work for the board of radiology. The factory workers you deal with have been exposed to chemical compounds."  
  
"This one needs your expertise." He replied. He turned and looked at her standing in the corridor, staring at him, "What?"  
  
"My expertise? I have none in this field." She clipped on her name badge which read Kia Reeds, "I'm a vet."  
  
"Exactly."  
  
They entered a lift and David pressed a button at the top of the queue.   
  
Kia studied his face as he stood silently.  
  
"Good morning brother." She said with a slight grin, "It's been a while."  
  
"It has." He nodded.  
  
"You've been promoted." She noted the gold tags on his wrist, "Security officer. Well earned."  
  
"I have worked hard."  
  
"Ah." Kia nodded at his rather cool effort at conversation, "You'd better keep quiet David or I won't be able to get a word in edgeways." He gave her a funny look at the doors opened and Kia shrugged, "Never mind."  
  
"Down this way." He gestured and they hurried down a corridor made entirely out of silver grey panels. They reflected hazily and Kia could see distorted versions of herself walking the corridor. It made her dizzy so she looked ahead instead.   
  
"Is this the surgical level that all the government officials keep claiming you have yet unable to prove it?" She remarked. David nodded and Kia sighed, "Why am I here?"  
  
"I knew you'd be able to deal with this…situation."  
  
"I hope I don't let you down." She said sincerely.  
  
David stopped by a door and activated the code.  
  
"So do I." He said equally as sincerely.  
  
They entered the room.  
  
It glittered with black architecture blue lighting filling the room. At the back was a workstation with some alien technical objects that beeped every now and then. In a file on the table were metallic clipboards. Other than the workstation, the room was clinical and clean. Nothing out of place. In fact it looked empty. However, hidden behind secret panels and chambers was enough technology make city hospitals jealous.  
  
But the technical equipment didn't peak Kia's interest. She was looking for her patient.   
  
As a vet she was accustomed to working with wounded animals. Mainly dogs, cats and birds common among New Yorkers and none of them were afflicted with chemicals that could harm them.   
  
On one side of the room was a pristine white chamber separated from the rest by a soft glowing shield. Behind this was a hard flat bed with some monitors and a drip hooked up to it. Lying on the bed was a short figure covered over in a clean, crisp white sheet. By the bed were two doctors comparing notes on their clipboards, talking in hushed tones.   
  
They looked up as Kia approached. One deactivated the shield and they both stepped through.  
  
"Kia Reeds?"  
  
"Yes?" She was handed a clipboard, "Is the…patient stable?"  
  
"We're not sure."  
  
Kia frowned at this and studied the board.  
  
"Is this everything you have collected so far?" She said curiously as the board only contained a few sparse notes.  
  
"It was all we could do."  
  
"What about Xrays, biopsies, you know, medical procedures?"  
  
One doctor cleared his throat and looked at David.  
  
"She's not been briefed?"  
  
"I was getting to that." David replied coolly. Kia waved her hand.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Just give me some space to work."  
  
The doctors nodded and walked out, talking their chilly disposition with them. Kia sighed and tapped the clipboard.  
  
"Charming, aren't they?"  
  
"They haven't the necessary skills for this task."  
  
"Necessary skills? I'm a vet!" Kia waved the clipboard at him, "And this is poor work! Nothing for me to go on. I'm starting from scratch having lost an hour to their incompetence."  
  
"Perhaps you should look at the patient before passing judgment."  
  
Kia nodded and deactivated the field. She stepped through and up to the edge of the bed. The patient was covered almost entirely with the crisp white sheet and all she could make out was his grey hair.   
  
Gently she peeled back the sheet and nearly staggered in shock.  
  
If her eyes weren't deceiving her, she was looking at a giant grey furred animal. And by his ears, long nose and tail it was clear she was looking at a rat that was at least five foot tall not including the ears.  
  
Kia let the sheet drop, as well as her mouth, as she stared at it.   
  
David watched impassively from his position on the other side of the field.  
  
Kia swallowed with difficulty and looked at him.  
  
"What is this?" She demanded, "Some kind of joke?"  
  
"The radiology board doesn't think so." He replied, "It was found lying on the road, hit by a car and left for dead. Someone took it to an animal shelter where they realized it wasn't a dog and they contacted us."  
  
"The department of radiology and its uses." Kia murmured, "Do you know what this means? If word of this got out…"  
  
"You have a lot of work to do." David nodded, "Try to keep it alive."  
  
Kia was left staring at the limp bundle of grey fur lying on the table and tried to keep her senses from spinning. She gripped the edge tightly and leaned forward.  
  
The rat's tongue was hanging out and its breathing was erratic. The monitor it was hooked up showed the same for its heartbeat. There were abrasions along its side, consistent with a hit and run. But there were also scorch marks that seemed out of place.  
  
Her ability and technical know how stepped in and Kia put aside her surprise to begin her analysis of the creature. She pulled out its arms, noting that they were more human than rat-like with a thumb and fingers mimicking human limbs. Slipping on her headphones Kia clipped the recorder onto her jean pocket and began recording.  
  
"Time, four ten on July twelfth, Tuesday. Kia Reeds as chief operator. Patient, one seriously oversized rat. Despite it being humanoid in form with bi-ped limbs, this creature is still very much an animal. This is why I have been brought in. It is not a fact of evolution. In fact, it is mutation. It has to be. From the centre's factories? What kind of chemicals are they dealing with? What kind of scandal am I about to cover up?"  
  
As she spoke Kia began shaving some fur off the creature's limbs. She worked quickly, inserting tubes into its body and hooking these up to a drip that she set up nearby. A blood bag was linked to this and quickly the life flowing liquid was moving through the tubes into its body.   
  
Having secured its immediate safety Kia examined the wounds. One claw/arm had been clipped by the car and it hung at an odd angle. She guessed it to be broken if not dislocated. The other mark from the car was relatively superficial. The burn marks were far more dangerous and Kia made up a burn pack and wrapped it around its body.   
  
"I don't know if there's anything wrong on the inside of it." She muttered, "Those other doctors obviously didn't think to X-ray it. Idiots."  
  
Abruptly the rat muttered something and Kia jumped back, clutching her clipboard. She stared at it for long moments, waiting for it to speak again.   
  
"…sons…my…take…" It muttered before lapsing back into unconsciousness. It took another few seconds for Kia to pry herself off the walls and move closer.  
  
"I wouldn't do that again." She said in a shaky voice and tapped her clipboard, "X-rays. I can handle an X-ray at this moment."

* * *

  
  
Kia pushed her hair out of her face as she studied the X-rays in her hands. She was barely aware of David falling into step beside her. She did see his shadow across her clipboard and she glanced up.  
  
"Yes?" She asked pertly.  
  
"Is it dead yet?"  
  
"You almost make it sound like you want it to die." She remarked and tapped the X-rays, "If it's bleeding internally you may just get your wish."  
  
"Wouldn't you just operate?"  
  
Kia held up the X-rays for David to see. They were a fuzzy blur.  
  
"Looks like it's out of focus."  
  
"It's not." Kia shrugged, "It's the third set I've done. They're all like this. It must have something to do with the way it has formed as a creature. Something in its genetic makeup that's making it impossible to X-ray."  
  
"You'll have to operate."  
  
"I wouldn't suggest it." Kia responded, pushing through a double set of doors, David following her closely, "It's so weak at the moment. An operation may very well kill it. I would like to avoid that, at least for the moment."  
  
"For the moment." David murmured and Kia frowned. She didn't like the way he was skirting around this problem.  
  
"David…what's going on here, really?" She asked coyly, "I mean, out of the blue you give me a call to come in to the office to operate on a mutant rat?"  
  
"You think it's a mutation?" David looked at her keenly, "Caused by the chemicals of the factory?"  
  
"David? Are you listening to me?" Kia stopped him, "This is far too big of an issue just for me. A five foot rat that I'm meant to keep alive without any more information? What is it you want me to prove or disprove? Why am I here?"  
  
"You have the experience in the fields necessary."  
  
"Surely your radiologists should be present. They could view it from a radioactive field of expertise."  
  
"I knew I could trust you." He looked at her, "You can keep a secret."  
  
"Just in case this is the factory's fault and you don't want those environmental green politicians to find out." Kia sighed and pushed her hair back out of her face, "David…I don't think I should be doing this."  
  
"Kia. I trust your abilities." He put his hand on her shoulder and then took it away as some staff members walked down the corridor towards them. When they'd gone he smiled, "Do what you can."  
  
Kia let the door swing closed behind her and sighed.  
  
"Call me suspicious," She muttered, "But I don't think I've been given the whole truth and nothing but the truth." She took the pen out from behind her ear and opened up her clipboard. She pinned the X-rays up and tried to study the fuzzy pictures. It was relatively impossible to read them. After a few minutes she entered the pristine contamination room where her one patient slept.   
  
He hadn't moved or spoken for hours.   
  
Kia was relieved.   
  
It was disconcerting enough to be working with a five foot rat let alone one that spoke.   
  
Perhaps she should have mentioned it to David. But something didn't sit right with her about the whole thing.  
  
Maybe she was being overly suspicious. But her presence there and working on a creature that may be the result of some deadly chemical dumping was sending conspiracies running through her mind.   
  
With effort she shook of the images running through her mind and concentrated on injecting more drugs into the rat's arm. His eyelids fluttered and he moved slightly before settling down, so groggy he could barely move.

* * *

  
  
David sat back in his office and shut the blind behind him. He turned on his computer and on a secure channel he made a phone call.  
  
"Mr Reeds." The voice was tinny and sinister.  
  
"Yes sir." David said, "We've had a development. One of the creatures you've been searching for…it could be here."  
  
There was a pause.  
  
"Is it alive?"  
  
"Barely."  
  
"Who is keeping it alive?"  
  
"I've put Kia onto it."  
  
There was a sigh on the end of the line.  
  
"Good. Very good. Watch her. Watch her carefully. And the creature."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
"I will contact you when I wish to interrogate it."  
  
"Yes sir."  
  
And the call was ended.

* * *

  
  
Kia flicked the syringe and looked at the liquid inside. She lifted the rat's arm and inserted the tip causing mild discomfort to the creature before it rested back down.  
  
"Let's see what that will do." She murmured and then went about changing the dressings around its burns. The scorch marks were severe and the bandage was soaked in the puss that was weeping from the burns. She cleaned it gently and then rolled out some clean bandage.  
  
"Well?"  
  
Kia looked up and saw David on the other side of the shield.  
  
"Well what? It's been twenty four hours. I can hardly have performed any miracles yet."   
  
David looked frustrated. Kia frowned.  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"Nothing." He grunted and folded his arms.  
  
"Nothing?" She raised her eyebrows and took her pen from behind her ear, "Why don't I believe you?"  
  
"Would I lie to you?"  
  
"If you'd been told to lie to me." She questioned and David's face darkened, "Can I ask you something?"  
  
"You can ask."  
  
She knew that she mightn't receive an answer but she'd try anyway.   
  
"Why, if this was a hit and run incident, are there burn marks on the creature?"  
  
A jaw in David's cheek clicked and he grunted.  
  
"Why does it show signs of mutation that is not consistent with previous factory poisonings?"  
  
Again nothing but a grunt.  
  
Kia stepped forward.  
  
"Why is it that the mutative chemicals still floating around in its systems are older than the factories this centre is connected to?" She glared at him, "What are you hiding from me?"  
  
"Why do you need to know?" Kia was surprised at the amount of anger in his voice. Controlled anger, but anger none-the-less.  
  
"It's important to the patient."  
  
"It's an animal."  
  
Kis nearly blurted out that it was a walking, talking, intelligent animal but she restrained herself.  
  
David turned on his heel and walked away.  
  
"Try to keep your questions locked away." He remarked, "They'll only get you into trouble. Just do what's required. That's all."  
  
Kia growled as he left the room. She scooped her metallic clipboard off the small tools table by the rat and activated the data screen. Irritably she jabbed it with her pen, comparing her notes to the computer's analysis.   
  
"Why is he making things so difficult?" She muttered, "I'm on a need to know basis and I need to know what I am dealing with here." She scratched the top of her head with her pen and then tucked it behind her ear, "Perhaps he's right. Maybe I do ask too many questions. I'll just get myself into trouble and wouldn't that just be perfect."  
  
She opened a panel and began sorting her tools to distract herself. It didn't last long.  
  
"It's not like I'm making an issue about the whole damn process. I just to know what it is I am exactly meant to be doing with a five foot rat."  
  
She leant against the wall and hugged her clipboard to her body.  
  
"Why am I getting myself so worked up about this?"  
  
"You have a questioning spirit." The large rat spoke softly in a voice that betrayed its age.   
  
Kia nearly dropped her clipboard but she tried to maintain her cool, not wanting to show weakness in front of a rather large rodent. She walked a bit closer and saw that its eyes were open, glowing yellow with an intelligence that made her skin crawl.  
  
"You're supposed to be asleep." She remarked, her voice remaining steady to her relief, "I've given you enough sedatives to put an elephant to sleep. Yet you're still awake." She looked up over her clipboard to stare directly at it, determined to hold its gaze, "Any thoughts?"  
  
It blinked.  
  
"I'm a rat." It said simply.  
  
Kia felt a grin at the side of her mouth. To hide her amusement she fiddled with the drip.  
  
"Are you saying you're immune to the sedatives because you're a rat? Or you just don't have any thoughts?"  
  
It gave the smallest smile.  
  
"Always questions?"  
  
"How else am I to learn?" She retorted, wondering if she was going to get into the same argument with this rat that she did with David.  
  
"This is what David cannot understand. He follows orders. You question them."  
  
Kia rolled a stool over and made the pretence of entering data into her sheet. She tucked hair behind her ear.  
  
"David's always been a yes man. He doesn't think to ask why. He just does." She muttered, "It drives me insane sometimes."  
  
"There is a place for both obedience and for questions." The rat murmured, "You must use wisdom with both."  
  
Kia opened her mouth to respond then snapped it shut. She clicked her clipboard closed and stood up.  
  
"I can't believe I'm having this discussion with a mutated rat." She shook her head, "And the irony is, you're actually making more sense than most humans." She strode through the field, stepped through and reactivated it, "I must be going out of my mind."

* * *

  
  
Kia was gently shaken awake. She looked up blearily, imprints of the documents she'd been sleeping on embedded in her cheeks. David stood over her.  
  
Groggily Kia looked around. She was still at the lab. Although her flat was about as inviting as this room so it made little difference.  
  
"Sleeping on the job?"  
  
Kia growled and pushed herself up.  
  
"Do you want it to live or die?" She demanded, "Don't criticize my techniques." Immediately sorry for snapping she stumbled over to the basin and splashed some cold water on her face, trying to wash away the confusion of the night before.   
  
David looked down at the papers on her desk.  
  
"What's this?" He picked up one, studying it.  
  
Kia looked back and felt her chest tighten a little. She walked over and snatched it away.  
  
"Nothing." She said protectively.  
  
David eyed her curiously.  
  
"I didn't know you like to draw."  
  
"Don't you have any hobbies?" She retorted, inexplicably fearful that he knew she liked to draw. It was only a brief sketch of the rat, its claws, its eyes and ears. She'd even sketched the burn marks and bandages.   
  
"Kia. It's alright." David said in a strange voice that made Kia wonder if it was alright, "Clearly you…have a gift. These are quite good."  
  
Rather than be comforted by his praise Kia felt cornered. She quickly gathered up the loose sheets and tucked them into her clipboard.  
  
"I'm obviously not a good enough vet." She muttered, changing the subject. Despite her best efforts the rat was deteriorating to a point where the only way to tell if it was living was by the monitor that beeped every now and then.  
  
She rubbed her neck and looked at David who was looking slightly remorseful.  
  
"Have you been here all night?"  
  
It was a nicely framed question. Tinged with just enough compassion to make it sound caring. Kia sighed.  
  
"No." She opened the watch/medallion that hung around her neck, "Oh…yes."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Because it's not getting any better. It's not responding to treatment."  
  
"Just don't let it get any worse." David clapped her awkwardly on the shoulder and walked out.  
  
Kia growled and rubbed her eyes. She grabbed her clipboard and wandered to the computer readouts. They just made her more depressed. Nothing was adding up.  
  
It was as though this mutation was hindering the healing process. It couldn't accept drugs or medication. Its body would reject it at the expense of dying without it.   
  
She entered the contamination room and looked at the rat.   
  
It was losing weight rapidly. Its fur was lank and its eyes were open a tiny slit showing the briefest glimpse of a yellow streak.   
  
His outer wounds were healing, even the scorch marks. But because of the chemicals in its blood stream the X-rays couldn't show her if it was bleeding internally. And she was too afraid to operate. It was likely she would lose it on the operating table and then all hell would break loose.  
  
Gently she brushed back some fur on its face.  
  
Its eyes flickered open.  
  
"I'm dying." It said simply, studying her face, her conflicting emotions.   
  
Kia felt confronted by his simple assessment. She suddenly wanted to save the life of this creature more than anything. Whatever she thought of it, or David or the board thought of it didn't matter. It was a living breathing, intelligent creature.   
  
"There's not much more I can do." She admitted, sitting down, "From all I can tell, you are healed. Yet you deteriorate."  
  
"Perhaps some wounds are not of the body but of the heart."  
  
There was such an echo of sadness in his voice that Kia felt a lump rise in her throat. She distracted herself by adjusting the instruments and checking the drip bag.  
  
"And what makes you sick at heart?" She asked softly.  
  
The rat's eyes closed for a moment. And when they opened Kia was amazed to see them glistening with tears.   
  
"My sons." He trembled. Kia got up and found another blanket. She tucked it around him securely. He stopped shaking and relaxed as she smoothed back his fur, "I miss my sons."  
  
Kia pushed back her black fringe and rolled on the stool so she could look him in the eyes. She set her clipboard aside and leaned on the bed.  
  
"Tell me about them."

* * *

  
  
David looked up as Kia entered. He briefly acknowledged her presence and went back to work. Kia felt snubbed and she folded her arms instinctively.  
  
"I have to talk to you."  
  
"Talk." David replied, turning over a page in his reports.  
  
"We have to let the rat go."  
  
David looked up, Kia having finally got his attention.  
  
"What?" He demanded, "Please tell me I didn't just hear that."  
  
Kia figured this would be the way the conversation would go.  
  
"You heard me."  
  
"Damn." David swore and stood up, "Why, if I may ask?"  
  
"It's dying and perhaps the only way to save it is to let it go." Kia explained, "It's a wild animal and I believe that the cage is killing him, among other things."  
  
"You're a vet. Keep it alive."  
  
"I can't." She snapped, "I have tried and failed. There's nothing I can do. Except ask that you at least ask the board…"  
  
"No."  
  
"David, the radiation isn't from any factories under our jurisdiction. It cannot be traced back to us." David was shaking his head. Kia stepped forward, "At least try…"  
  
David spun around and glared at her.  
  
"Is it your design to discredit me? To make me lose this job? Are you trying to ruin everything for me?"  
  
"Why do you think this would reflect on you?" Kia exclaimed, "It has nothing to do with you."  
  
"You don't understand the severity of the situation." David looked out his window, "There are higher authorities at work here than just the board. These authorities can either make or break a person and they are always on the look out to do just that." He turned his intense eyes onto Kia, "I am this close from being honoured in their eyes. If the rat lives, if you can keep it alive for just a few more hours, you will be rewarded beyond comprehension."  
  
"What happens in a few hours?" Kia demanded, alarmed by the look on his face.  
  
"The creature will be collected by those in higher command. Dead or alive, it won't be your responsibility any more."  
  
Kia shook her head.  
  
"David, who are these people that you would seek their approval?"  
  
David's face was lined with the light coming through the blinds on his windows. He gazed at her darkly.  
  
"They are the ones who give orders."  
  
"And you always obey orders." Kia retorted and stormed out.

* * *

  
  
The rat raised his head as Kia entered the room. It was the most energetic he'd been since arriving. His yellow eyes followed her across the room as she collected her clipboard, avoiding his eyes. Aggravated she flung it aside and swore.  
  
"Your request was not heard." He surmised.  
  
Kia looked over at him. She couldn't lie. Somehow she knew he'd know the truth.  
  
"No." She said angrily, "He didn't want to listen." The rat's eyes pleaded with her and Kia sighed, her rage evaporating at his gentle calm, "I'm sorry."  
  
He closed his eyes and Kia felt a twinge of guilt as she studied his frail form.   
  
"All hope is lost." He whispered.  
  
"There's more." Kia swallowed and stepped through into the room, "Someone is coming for you tonight. I don't know who and I don't know what they will do to you."  
  
"It does not matter." He said and breathed deeply. Kia took his claw and felt his pulse grow weaker and weaker. It was as though he was simply giving up his life.  
  
She brushed back his fur and turned away.  
  
"Unfortunately it matters to me." She murmured and opened a wall panel. Inside it were cryogenically chilled bags of red serum. She hooked one up to the drip and watched as the red liquid leaked through the tubing into the rat's arm.   
  
He muttered incoherently and sank deeper into the bedding. Kia stroked his fur and watched as his heart rate became one unending line on the monitor.  
  
"I'm sorry. I won't let you be tortured." She picked up the microphone set and switched it on, "Patient's time of death, 3:17pm."


	2. Surprise

KIA

Part II

Kia walked into the boardroom where the members were sitting around drinking coffee. Kia's hands were wrapped around her clipboard like a shield. The members of the board looked at her curiously.  
  
"The rat is dead." She announced clearly and with clinical professionalism. The board looked shocked. Kia guessed they were hoping it would live and that they would benefit from these…higher authorities when they came.  
  
"Cause of death?" One man managed to ask.  
  
"I suspect internal bleeding was the cause." She replied, handing over the clipboard, "Of course the mutation scrambled any instruments that might have saved it. When I begin the autopsy I will find out…"  
  
"That won't be necessary." Another man studied the clipboard and handed it back to her, "The body will be collected tonight."  
  
Kia noted that they didn't mention by whom.  
  
"With all due respect this has been my case study and I want to finish it." She argued politely, "Wouldn't it be better to present immediate findings to these…collectors. Information might be lost before they can begin their own analysis."  
  
The board members glanced at one another then back to Kia.  
  
"Very well."  
  
Kia was relieved but tried not to show it.  
  
"Thank you." She said and turned on her heel. As she left the room she bumped into David.  
  
"Kia, I…why were you talking to the board?"  
  
"Always looking over my shoulder?" Kia blinked, "I was just informing the board that the rat died."  
  
"What?" He exclaimed and then controlled himself, "When?"  
  
"He died half an hour ago."  
  
David's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Of what?"  
  
Kia shrugged.  
  
"Possibly the wounds he had or even from old age. He wasn't a young rat."  
  
"He?"  
  
Kia frowned.  
  
"I'm a vet. I know what a male rat looks like."  
  
"No. You weren't referring to its gender. You were talking as thought it was a person."  
  
Kia felt cornered.  
  
"He…It displayed some qualities akin to human expression like sorrow. It is also very intelligent…or it was." Kia didn't like the way David was staring at her, "I have to go."  
  
David grabbed her arm.  
  
"What have you done?" He demanded, "Kia, talk to me."  
  
Kia looked at him.  
  
"I killed it." She said bluntly, preparing herself for David's outburst. His shoulders sagged and he shook his head, "I ended its misery."  
  
"Are you insane?" David hissed in her face, "Do you know what you've done? What you're doing to me? Kia…the people coming tonight do not accept failure."  
  
Kia sighed.  
  
"How touching that you are concerned for me…and not your reputation." She yanked her arm away, "I will do everything I can to have a full autopsy report ready for these people as well as a detailed account of everything I have learned so far. If that is not enough for these people, then they expect too much." She began walking away, "Goodnight, David."

* * *

  
  
In the laboratory two interns shifted the limp body of the oversized rat onto the roller bed. Kia packed syringes, bottles and some other equipment into the grey foam casing of her metallic case and clicked down the lid.   
  
"Do you have everything you need?" An intern asked.  
  
"Yes." She picked up her clipboard, "I can take it from here."  
  
With little effort she pushed the bed down the dimly lit corridors, heading towards the morgue. Usually used for an emergency operating room for any victims of factory poisoning or accidents, it would serve as her dissecting facility.   
  
The signs and flickering lights moved past her as she began to go faster and faster.  
  
With effort she slowed down and pushed calmly, gripping the handles on the bed tightly. Up ahead she saw the sign for the morgue. Her heart beating like a thousand drums she approached it, the corridor to the morgue turning off to her left.   
  
Her mind made up, she gave the bed a huge push past the corridor and down to the elevator. Roughly she slammed into it and pressed the down button. It opened up in the car park.  
  
The night was chilly but Kia's skin was warm with adrenalin as she pushed the bed through the deserted car park towards her station wagon.  
  
"I must be insane." She laughed, amazed she was laughing in spite of the situation.   
  
She opened up the back of her wagon and rolled the bed flat into the back. She slammed down the back and found her keys.  
  
Fortunately the darkly tinted windows shielded her from curious eyes as Kia drove down the highway, heading towards a construction site.   
  
The wooden beam splintered as she burst through it and on towards an elevator used for taking large equipment down into the bowels of the building that was going up.  
  
Activating it the elevator dropped down and down, taking her car, her and the rat with it.  
  
As it descended Kia put the break on and clambered into the back of the car. She yanked back the blankets and opened up her case. The syringe entered in the pin pricked arm of the rat and she injected a yellow serum into his body.  
  
Rubbing his arm she prayed it would work quickly.  
  
"Come on." She whispered. Perhaps she was too late. Perhaps he wasn't as immune to drugs as he had shown before.  
  
Suddenly he moaned and his eyes fluttered.  
  
Kia slumped back in relief.  
  
"It worked." She whispered and jolted as they hit the bottom. Kia backed her car out of the elevator onto the sewer level of the building site. Gingerly she drove along until she heard the roar of a sewer waterfall.   
  
Removing the rat she eased his frail body against a wall and proceeded to unload the bed, case and her clipboard before putting a brick on the accelerator and sending her car into the abyss.   
  
There was a shuddering roar as it hit the bottom. Kia had no time to miss her station wagon, her trusty bomb mobile. The roller bed folded up into a wheelchair. Kia put her arms around the rat.  
  
"Easy now." She murmured, "I'm taking you home."  
  
"I cannot walk."   
  
"You won't have to." Kia replied and eased him into the chair. She grabbed the case and clipboard. Gripping the chair tightly she turned it down one of the many sewer tunnels that connected to countless others.

* * *

  
  
It had to be getting close to dawn before they reached the junction which would take them to the home of the rat. Kia stumbled wearily over her own feet, her adrenalin having worn off hours ago but she picked up her feet and kept going.  
  
"We are close." The rat said and pointed, "The archway."  
  
Kia walked over to it.  
  
"Open sesame?" She looked at the rat who leaned to a panel and pressed the code. The archway shuddered and opened revealing a large cavern area. Kia pushed the wheelchair in and looked around in unchecked amazement.  
  
"Is this…?"  
  
"Home." The rat said and then called out in a shaky voice, "My sons! Leonardo? Donatello?"  
  
"Michelangelo? Raphael?" Kia added, the European names sounding strange on her lips.   
  
Their calls echoed off the walls of the empty cavern. Kia looked at the rat who was sniffing.  
  
"Maybe they are out looking for you."  
  
The rat frowned. Then his sharp eyes spotted something. He lunged off in an energetic burst that defied his weak condition and crawled over to a piece of cloth on the ground. Kia looked over his shoulder. The cloth had been purple at one stage but was stained red.  
  
"No." The rat whispered, sniffing it, "I cannot believe…not my sons."  
  
He slumped on the ground, his grief too great for tears.  
  
Kia stood, unsure what to do.   
  
She had banked on the rat's sons being here, to help her in saving the life of their father. But their disappearance and the damning evidence of the bloody cloth left very little room for hope.  
  
They had come back to a home abandoned.   
  
Gently she looped her arms around the rat and supported him to the couch. She laid him on it, dismayed at the devastation in his eyes as he fingered the cloth.  
  
"Sir…?" She asked softly.  
  
"No father should out live his sons." He said brokenly and turned his back on her to weep into the cushions that still held the scent of his sons.  
  
Kia tucked blankets around him and then slumped on the ground nearby. Exhausted she curled up, her head on her arm, wondering if she had done the right thing all along.  
  
Maybe David was right.   
  
Maybe she had made a huge mistake.  
  
She looked at the watch around her neck.  
  
Day shift would be starting soon. And her presence would be missed if not already.  
  
She was down in a sewer with a dying rat.

* * *

  
  
Groggily Kia opened her eyes and looked around. It hadn't been some terrible dream. She really was in the sewers and it was cold.  
  
Shivering she got up and leaned over the rat. He was still alive, barely.  
  
Rubbing her arms Kia found the kitchen. Hands shaking she boiled some water and began pouring green liquid into a cup.  
  
"Hey." She shook the rat gently and he turned, "Drink this."  
  
"More medicine?" He asked blandly with a voice that didn't want to live.  
  
"Green tea." She closed his cold claws around the warm cup, "No more trying to keep you where you don't want to be. If you want to die, I can't stop you."  
  
His eyes studied her face, tempered by wisdom.   
  
"Will you join me in one last cup?"  
  
Kia found her own cup and sat down on her knees before him.  
  
"Sure."

* * *

  
  
He was sleeping again and Kia leant against the couch and sighed.  
  
She knew she should be thinking about what to do next but her mind was too tired. Nothing was making sense.   
  
Perhaps when she'd slept more than an hour at a time she'd be able to work it all out.  
  
Unexpectedly there was a beeping sound and the archway doors began to peel open.  
  
Kia staggered to her feet. Had David found her so quickly? How had he known where to look? Or was it those weird soldiers that had chased the rat into the path of the oncoming truck?  
  
Either way they weren't getting to the rat without a fight.  
  
Kia picked up a piece of piping and brandished it.  
  
"The doors have been opened recently." Came a voice beyond the shadows.  
  
"You'd think they'd got what they came for!" A gruff voice snarled and a third snapped,  
  
"That's it! I've had enough!"  
  
Through the doors came four hulking bodies, the first one brandishing a set of nasty looking blades.  
  
Not sure what she could do Kia ran towards them and swiped the pipe at them.  
  
"Get out!" She yelled. There came the sound of metal against metal and her pipe was halved. Kia was flung aside like a rag doll. She hit the table holding her case and everything in it fell out, smashing all around her.   
  
Anger making her strong Kia lunged out, pushing one aside and skidding in front of the covered body of the rat on the couch.  
  
"Get out of our way!" One with a pronged dagger bellowed.  
  
"If you touch him I will kill you where you stand!" She yelled back in its face. It was a big green face covered with a dark red bandana.   
  
Strangely enough the four creatures stopped.  
  
They seemed to be studying her and Kia only felt more uneasy.  
  
"Who?" Asked one with a purple bandana.  
  
Kia frowned, waiting for a trap.  
  
"My sons."  
  
Kia, trying to keep an eye on these hulking green creatures, looked at the rat. He was half up on one elbow and gazing, not at her, but at these things that had just attacked her.  
  
"Father?"  
  
She turned back and saw the creatures drop their weapons, the blades clattering to the ground along with a long staff and some strange chained chucks.   
  
Abruptly they ran at her, pushing her aside to gather around the rat, not to harm it but to hug it.  
  
"We thought we'd lost you."  
  
"Thank goodness you're alive."  
  
"It's so good to see you."  
  
"The doctor said you were dead."  
  
"I was." The rat touched their faces tenderly, tears wetting the fur below his eyes, "There was no other way to be smuggled out."  
  
"Sons?" Kia murmured, "Father?"   
  
One of the creatures stood up and glared at her.  
  
"Who's this?"  
  
Kia stepped back, fearing retribution.   
  
"She's a friend." The rat said firmly.  
  
Kia felt the glare of the creatures lessen and she shook with relief as they seemed to accept her.

* * *

  
  
Leonardo closed the door of Splinter's quarters quietly and sighed.  
  
"I can't believe we've been at April's for hours thinking he was dead."  
  
"I can't believe we thought Splinter was dead!" Donatello exclaimed then clapped his hand over his mouth as Leonardo signaled for quiet and they moved away from the doors of their master's quarters, "I mean this is Master Splinter we're talking about."  
  
"He's amazing. But not immortal." Raphael argued, "Besides, the doctor's report at that radiology centre was pretty damning."  
  
"She said he was dead." Michelangelo chuckled and looked over at the girl squatting among the shattered contents of her medical case, "She lied. I like her."  
  
Raphael rolled his eyes as Leonardo, the leader of the foursome, stepped forward, feeling it was his duty to say something to the stranger. Anything.   
  
They owed her a debt they could not repay.   
  
When they had tracked the animal van to the radiology centre, hopes were already low for Splinter's safety. He had been seriously injured in the blaze on the docks as the foot soldiers hailed down an inferno around them. Then to have been hit by a car and taken to the radiology centre under critical condition, the turtles had wondered if they were to say an unexpected farewell to their master and father.  
  
They had infiltrated the radiology centre with ease and were going to wreak havoc when the doctor had announced to the board that the rat was dead.   
  
It had been like a physical blow to their moral. Not even Raph could muster enough anger to lash out.  
  
In devastation they had run from the centre to the only place where they knew they would find a friendly face.  
  
And here, where they thought they would never get used to seeing it without him, was Splinter.  
  
Thanks to this young human.  
  
She looked up from picking through the broken remains. She had pale blue eyes set in a heart face. Her soft black hair cut short around her face with a long fringe that tended to hide her eyes. She was dressed in filthy, sewer stained jeans, black shirt and lab coat.   
  
She was shivering.  
  
From fear or the cold he wasn't sure.  
  
Leo felt very guilty.   
  
He hadn't meant to scare her so badly. It had just been a terrible out burst originating from the pain that loss could bring.   
  
He cleared his throat.  
  
"Hope we didn't break anything expensive or important." He said, fully aware that his brothers were listening to every word he said.  
  
"Both." She admitted and tossed a test tube aside, "And neither. Anyway to doesn't matter. He's healing by himself now that he knows his sons are safe and with him."  
  
There was no revulsion or confusion in her eyes as she spoke to him. She had simply accepted what her eyes were telling her. He was a giant bi-ped turtle who spoke like a human.   
  
Perhaps New York was getting weirder.  
  
"We owe you a huge debt."  
  
She bit her lip and shrugged, embarrassed at the urgency in his voice. Leo backed off a bit. He didn't want to frighten her. But he did want to let her know that what she had done could not be measured.   
  
"That's fine." She smiled, her eyes lighting up, "Leonardo."  
  
He jerked in surprise. She knew his name. Slowly she looked at each of them, studying them.  
  
"Michelangelo. Raphael. Donatello."   
  
"Seems you know more about us than we do about you." Don remarked, stepping forward.  
  
"It's the bandanas." Mike untied his and shrugged, "Take em off and we all look the same."  
  
The girl smiled.  
  
"Your…father told me about you." She looked at them almost shyly, "He said that you, Leonardo, would be the one to talk to me first. That Michelangelo would be the first to make a joke. Donatello would want to know exactly how I induced a comatose state on your father and that Raphael would…"  
  
"Be the one to knock your teeth out." Raph chuckled.  
  
"He said you'd be the first to fight for me, not against me."   
  
Raph tilted his head, surprised at her assessment of him. For once a quality trait had not been tagged onto his anger problem.   
  
"So, you know who we are…care to enlighten us?" Don asked.  
  
"Kia. My name is Kia."  
  
"Kia…" Mike grinned, "Kute in action?"  
  
"Oh brother." Raphael moaned, slapping his forehead, "Subtle as a sledge hammer."  
  
Kia giggled and pushed her hair back.  
  
"Well, I'd better go."  
  
Leo stepped forward.  
  
"Wait Kia." He said and she looked at him timidly, "Master Splinter called you friend. That means you are our friend also. You are welcome to stay. You must be exhausted."  
  
Kia wondered if the swaying action she had going on her feet was giving her tiredness away. She hesitated.  
  
"You can have my room." Leo added.  
  
"Don't inconvenience yourself Leo." Don offered, "She can have mine."  
  
"Mines got the game station!" Mike chipped in.  
  
Kia smiled.  
  
"Guys." Raph pointed out, "We do have a spare room."  
  
The other three all dropped their heads and nodded.  
  
"Oh yeah."  
  
"A room…would be wonderful." Kia agreed and was shown the way by an enthusiastic Michelangelo.

* * *

  
  
"What do you mean, it's gone?"  
  
David cringed, wondering if he had just sealed his fate. He was sitting in his office speaking with his 'higher' authority.   
  
He fiddled with his pen, hoping his voice didn't waver as he responded to the question.  
  
"Both of them are gone. Kia smuggled the rat out. The documentation showed it was dead."  
  
"But?"  
  
He cleared his throat.  
  
"Kia used a cryogenically chill drug pack to send the rat comatose. She also took an inhibitor with her so it's likely the rat recovered. Kia's more resourceful than we thought. She's thinking for herself, improvising upon the skills she has. It's a very good sign…"  
  
"You think that this test run has made up for your incompetence?"  
  
David tugged at the collar on his shirt.  
  
"It would be an excellent way of seeing if Kia will perform."  
  
"And if it doesn't?" The voice took on a dangerous edge, "I will not lose Kia."  
  
"We won't. There's a tracking device on it. If the activation sequence doesn't respond, we can find it." David said, gaining a little lost confidence, "Five days. That's all I need."  
  
"You have three." There was a pause, "And you'd better not fail me."

* * *

  
  
Splinter opened his eyes to see Kia kneeling beside him. She was busy writing notes on her clipboard and didn't see him studying her.  
  
"Tending your patient?"  
  
"Oh." She jumped and looked at him, "It's a good medical plan." She reached out and took his pulse, counting it against the watch around her neck, "You look much better."  
  
"I feel it."  
  
"Would you like some tea?"  
  
"Please."  
  
While Kia made some green tea Splinter found his robes and slipped one on. Though Donatello had gotten the heating working again Splinter felt secure in his robes. Less like an animal.  
  
Taking up his walking cane he hobbled out to the couch.  
  
"Hey." Kia hurried over, "Don't attempt too much too quickly." She supposed his weight so that he could sit on his knees, "I'm here to help you."  
  
"You have already done more than could be expected." He replied, taking his cup of tea, "You have sacrificed much."  
  
"Not really." Kia tried to shrug off the observation. She didn't want to think about what a mess she'd left for herself above the sewers. It would be difficult to untangle when she returned.  
  
"Your relationship with your family…with David."  
  
"David was the only family I have…had." She smiled weakly, "I don't remember a lot about my childhood. Lots of foster homes and families that didn't want me."  
  
"Is that all you remember?"  
  
Kia frowned and thought back. She was surprised that she had never done so before. Memories that she thought should be there, of growing up, of school and friends simply weren't there.  
  
"I…" She felt suddenly confronted by the emptiness of her existence. So much was missing.  
  
Splinter studied her.  
  
"Your past eludes you like a shadow." He saw her anxiety and broke through her confused world, "And now you are here."  
  
Kia rubbed her eyes.  
  
"Here." She agreed, forgetting the fear of facing a life of no memories.  
  
Splinter reached out and touched her hand.  
  
"If you would like, you may be part of our family."  
  
Kia was unexpectedly touched. She could do nothing but stare down at the rat's hand resting gently over hers.  
  
She tried to swallow the lump in her throat and looked up.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
Splinter nodded and sipped his tea.  
  
"Although you might have told me your sons are teenage mutant…"  
  
"Ninja?"  
  
"Ninja turtles." Kia shook her head, "I just assumed they would be like you."  
  
"Family is not bound by blood alone."  
  
"No. I can see that."   
  
"I hope my sons have been behaving themselves."  
  
Kia shifted on her knees.  
  
"Gentlemen." She smiled, "Gentle turtles."  
  
Splinter nodded and then his ear twitched.  
  
"We are not alone." He chuckled and Kia followed a side glance up to the second level of the lair.

* * *

  
  
Raphael walked out of his room yawning, his bandana half on. He stretched, cracked his neck and saw his brother lying on the balcony, staring down into the middle of the lair. He tiptoed up to him and peered over his shoulder.  
  
"Leonardo." He whispered in mocking chastisement, "I would not have picked you for eavesdropping."  
  
Leo glanced at him and rolled his eyes.  
  
"I wasn't eavesdropping." He replied, "I was watching."  
  
"And listening." Raphael lay down as well and they both stared from their balcony seats at Kia and Master Splinter sharing a cup of green tea, "Why? Don't trust her?"  
  
"She helped Splinter escape from the radiology centre and then through the sewer to us." Leo said, "Then she was prepared to fight us to save him."  
  
"Okay…so you trust her." Raphael nudged him, "Then what are you doing?"  
  
"Watching."  
  
Raphael frowned at his brother and then looked down at Kia. She was smiling. She was really pretty.  
  
Revelation dawned on him but before he could use this to irritate Leo they were rudely interrupted.  
  
"What's up guys?"  
  
"Sshh." Raph and Leo grabbed Michelangelo and pulled him down.  
  
"Woa." Mike hit the deck and looked down, "Scoping out the new chick?"  
  
"Why would you think that?" Leo demanded.  
  
"You guys are scoping out the new chick." Mike chuckled, "She's pretty."  
  
Leo grimaced, hating his brother's ability to speak his mind. Kia was pretty. Not only that. She served. It was evident in the way that she found Splinter another blanket, poured him tea and watched over him. She was…  
  
"Good peep show?"  
  
Donatello was quick to join their ranks.  
  
"Can you hear anything they're saying?"  
  
"We might if certain turtles shut up." Raph remarked and Don rolled his eyes.  
  
"Someone woke up on the wrong side of the nest this morning."  
  
"Oooh. Very observant wise guy."  
  
"Oh do us a favour and go back to bed Raph."  
  
"Hey guys. How does BBQ chicken pizza sound for breakfast?"  
  
Leo sighed and then tensed. Master Splinter was looking their way. And so was Kia.   
  
With a yelp he rolled away from the edge of the ledge at the same time as his brothers.  
  
They lay in silence, hoping they hadn't been seen but knowing full well that they had been.  
  
They heard Splinter chuckle.  
  
"Good morning my sons."  
  
As guilty as the man on the grassy knoll all four stood up and waved sheepishly.  
  
"Morning." Donatello managed to call.  
  
"Anyone for BBQ pizza for breakfast?"  
  
"Mike, give it a rest!"

* * *

  
  
Splinter resigned his weary self to the couch under orders from Kia. He didn't fight the order. He had been closer to death than ever in the past. Recovery would be a slow process. So for the time being he would rest and watch.  
  
He watched his sons, noting the changes in their behavior. They had all tasted the bitter twinge of death of a loved one. Despite the fact that he was alive, it had not wiped away the blow of reality, that one day he would leave them forever.   
  
Raphael was more distant, struggling over his turbulent emotions.  
  
Donatello was a little less technical and a little more pensive.  
  
Michelangelo's jokes were thick and fast, the best way to cover his emotions.  
  
And Leonardo was edgy. He avoided Kia without being rude yet when Splinter saw him in unguarded moments, he would stare at her.   
  
They worked hard at cleaning the lair up, dust and debris having fallen in their absence. Kia pitched in with the rest of them. She wasn't intimidated by their form. There was no fear in her eyes. And to his sons, she was one of them.   
  
Splinter, who was a guarded and private rat, felt the urge to protect this young woman.   
  
If not from the outside world or even from her own elusive past, then from his four sons who seemed to be going out of their way to show off to her.  
  
It was especially noticeable in training. Michelangelo spun his nun chucks fancily. Donatello pole-vaulted longer and further while Raphael liked aiming at small objects and hitting them with his sai. Leonardo had the opposite effect, becoming clumsy and self-conscious.   
  
The result?  
  
Little training. Much showing off.   
  
If Splinter could, he would have knocked them all on their shells for a lesson in modesty.   
  
"Well…We're not normally this bad." Donatello excused their antics.   
  
Kia grinned as she drew on her clipboard. She was sketching each of them in turn.  
  
"Yeah. Normally we're worse." Mike making the best of a bad situation.  
  
"Wanna go?" Raph offered.  
  
"Oh no." Kia laughed, "I've never picked up a weapon in my life…well with the exception of that pipe I tried to whack you with. I'm not a fighter."  
  
"She's an artist." Mike jumped up by her shoulder and looked down, "Look at me!" His nun chucks were flying around his head in a battle pose. Around the sketch were different poses for the weapons, hand grips and expressions, "Awesome."  
  
"Have you done one for everyone?" Don asked.  
  
Shyly Kia flipped the clipboard around and showed them. Each turtle viewed their self portrait with pride.   
  
"You got my angry face down good." Raph chuckled.  
  
"Is there any other?" Mike shot and ducked a flying kick.  
  
Splinter hobbled over and glanced at the drawings. Even he had featured on a page. But it was not his portrait he was interested in. With careful eyes he studied Leo's sketch.   
  
In a flying kick pose he looked intimidating but Kia had also captured the brooding, melancholy side that had become so obvious as she watched them train.   
  
"Perhaps you should be an artist." Splinter suggested as he limped away.  
  
"These wouldn't sell for a nickel." Kia smiled and jumped up to help him to the couch, "Don't grumble. I have to change those bandages anyway."   
  
"You used the last ones up already." Don noted. Kia sighed.  
  
"True."  
  
"Perhaps if we take Kia topside, just to go to a pharmacy?" Raph suggested and held up his hands at Splinter's glare, "We won't go above ground. Just Kia."  
  
"Very well."  
  
"Alright. Let's roll!" Mike yelled and back flipped to the archway, "Coming Don? Leo?"  
  
"Count me in!" Don jumped up.  
  
Leo shook his head.  
  
"Nah. Gonna read a book."  
  
"Fine. Read a book!" Mike shot and bolted after his disappearing brothers and Kia, "Woa, wait up!"  
  
Splinter glanced at Leonardo who was frowning.  
  
"What book is that my son?" He asked.  
  
"How to kill a mocking Mike." He replied.  
  
"Sit." Splinter commanded and Leo sat down beside him, "I want to tell you a story about a young woman who risked all that she had just to return a father to his sons."  
  
"Sounds familiar." Leo murmured.  
  
"He who risks much, gains much." Splinter explained, "Even though much may be lost."  
  
"Then who is ever certain?" Leonardo wondered, "How can you make sure it's certain?"  
  
"That is the element of risk."  
  
"Then how do you decide?"  
  
Splinter smiled.  
  
"Is the end worth the risk?"  
  
Leonardo sighed and rubbed his shoulder.  
  
"I think I need to think."  
  
"Yes." Splinter tilted his head and watched his son walk towards his room, "However, some things are not decided from the head, but from the heart."

* * *

  
  
Leonardo slumped against the wall by his bed. He picked up a book and opened it to read about Japanese history. But his mind drifted after the first sentence and he caught himself thinking of how pretty Kia looked. April had given her some clothes to replace the sewer stained ones she'd arrived in. Loose jeans, cotton shirt over a singlet. Simple yet effective. She was calm in the eyes and her black hair framed her face softly. It appealed to him.   
  
And it wasn't even all about her physical appearance, although he liked picturing her face.   
  
But her gentleness mingled with strength was captivating. She watched over Master Splinter, caring for him with little regard for herself. She served with all that she had without making an issue of it.   
  
Leo sighed and tugged at his bandana.   
  
If only he didn't feel like a fish out of water around her. In light of his brother's cockiness and chatter, he was silent and brooding. He was probably about as interesting as a toadstool. Mike at least made her laugh. Donatello could relate to her technically. Raphael, well, maybe she was good for him, to calm him down.   
  
What did he have to offer?  
  
His sword? She hated fighting. She didn't want to learn how to fight and expressed concern when they were practicing because of the dangerous blows they would deal each other.   
  
His training was his life.   
  
How could she relate to that?

* * *

  
  
When Leonardo emerged from his room hours later he was surprised at how quiet the lair was. Michelangelo's television station was turned off and Donatello wasn't tinkering. Raphael would have been arguing with one of the two but Leo couldn't hear that either. They should have been back ages ago.  
  
There was a soft chatter of voices and he followed the sound to the couch setting where Kia and Splinter were sitting.   
  
He paused in the shadows, watching silently.  
  
"I don't know where I learnt how to draw." Kia shook her head, "Why do you keep asking me questions about my past?"  
  
"Has anyone asked you about your past before?"  
  
Kia frowned.  
  
"Not that I remember." She shrugged, "Surely there should be many more memories than the ones I have…but I don't remember them. Maybe that's a good thing."  
  
"To know one's past is to know one's future."  
  
"Perhaps my future will be my past." Kia argued, "After all, if I can't remember much then what I have experienced over the last five days with you and your sons is now my past. What better way to start?"  
  
Splinter raised his eyebrows and without breaking gaze with Kia said,  
  
"Leonardo."  
  
Leo grimaced and walked out into the light.  
  
"Hi." He said self-consciously.   
  
"You didn't go with the others?" Kia asked.  
  
"Where'd they go?" He didn't look at her. He looked at Splinter.  
  
"To work off restless energy in the sewer pipes." Splinter replied, "I thought it best not to disturb your…reading."  
  
Leonardo sighed as Splinter stood up.  
  
"I am going to rest."  
  
Leo tensed, painfully aware that he would now be alone with Kia. Splinter looked at him and then hobbled off to his room. As the green doors clicked behind him Leo cleared his throat and looked at Kia. She brushed her hair back.  
  
"Think he's alright?" She asked.  
  
"He's pretty tough." Leo said quickly, "Besides, you patched him up pretty good. Er…double use of the word pretty…pretty pedantic…"  
  
Kia giggled and stood up.  
  
"I think you've got a pretty good grasp of the English language." She said.  
  
Leo smiled.  
  
"Do you…wanna go for a walk? I know the sewer isn't the nicest place to go walking and you're probably tired after a visit topside so it's totally fine if you don't…"  
  
"Leo." Kia stopped him, "I'd love to go for a walk."  
  
Leonardo wasn't sure if he was relieved or more tense than before.  
  
"Good. I mean great…I mean…oh shell." He gestured to the door, "After you…"  
  
"I don't know where I'm going."  
  
"Oh yeah. Sorry."   
  
As the two left the lair Splinter watched from his room.  
  
Once the door was closed securely behind them he wandered out to the couch and turned on the television. Putting his feet up he chuckled.

* * *

  
  
The sewer water wasn't the most romantic river to walk by and there were pleasanter backdrops that the moldy walls of the New York underground but Kia didn't seem to mind.  
  
She chatted easily to Leo and the turtle found himself relaxing.   
  
They talked about many things that didn't matter and many things Leo was sure he wouldn't remember but it was just nice to talk. Especially to someone who didn't know about everything he had done in his life like his brothers.  
  
Kia kicked a tin can and watched it skitter across the pavement and then splash into the water.  
  
"Do you always carry your swords?" She asked.  
  
"Always." Leo nodded, "Not that I notice that they are there. It's like they're part of me I know them so well."  
  
Kia frowned.  
  
"It must be difficult never to relax fully." She remarked.  
  
"I come pretty close." Leo replied, "Especially down here in the sewers. No one comes down here. Well…almost no one."  
  
Kia smiled, taking the hint.   
  
"There's an unfinished t-junction ahead." Leonardo pointed, "We'll have to cross here." With ease he jumped over the sewer flow onto the other side.  
  
Kia put her hands on her hips.  
  
"Oh yes?"   
  
"Jump. I'll catch you."  
  
"I wouldn't get half way." She shook her head and wandered down a bit further where there was an archway alcove that spanned across the sewer flow. In the alcove were little handles for someone to monkey swing across.  
  
Kia grabbed the first one and made her way over. But the ones near the end were rotten and one broke off.  
  
Leo reached out and grabbed her, pulling her back away from the filthy water.   
  
Suddenly he was aware of how close she was to him. And how close he was to her. Shyly he looked down and saw she was looking up. With a sheepish grin he set her down and rubbed the back of his neck.  
  
"Sorry."  
  
"You caught me." Kia blurted and they stared at each other.  
  
"Um…what was that hard necklace thing?"  
  
"Just my watch." Kia pulled it out of her top, looped it over her head, opened it and held it out to Leonardo, "It goes everywhere with me."  
  
"Nice." Leo said and clipped it closed.  
  
Then he nearly dropped it.  
  
The closed catches made up a very well known symbol to him. Three flame like prongs set in gold. There was no doubt about it.   
  
It was the Shredder's symbol.  
  
Leo looked up at Kia.  
  
"No." He whispered, "Not you."  
  
"Leo?" She asked, "What's wrong?"  
  
Leonardo felt his breath tighten as his hand clutched the medallion. All he could see was a burning warehouse, Splinter being covered in burning beams and the foot raining down chaos on their heads.   
  
"You…you're part of the foot."  
  
"I'm sorry?"  
  
"What was the price?" Leo demanded, "Gain Splinter's trust. Get him to tell you where our lair was and lead them here?" He knew he was getting angry. He couldn't help it. He thought they could trust her. Splinter thought they could trust her.  
  
Kia shook her head.  
  
"Leo. I have no idea what you're talking about."  
  
"This is a tracking device!"  
  
"It's a watch."  
  
Leo flung it into the air and drew out his sword. With one swift motion he sliced the cover clean off.  
  
"No!" Kia cried and then looked down at the exposed insides of the watch. A small red light was flashing in among the clock works. She stared at it, "I didn't know that was there. Leo I swear!"  
  
Leonardo sheathed his sword and kicked the tracker into the water. The strong sewer current dragged it along bottom and well away from their lair.  
  
"We have to get back."  
  
"Leo. Who are these foot? Who are you afraid of?" Kia begged.  
  
Leo turned two blazing eyes upon her.  
  
"They're the ones who nearly killed Splinter. Who have nearly killed us numerous times. They are out to destroy all those who stand against them. And using that tracker, they may have just found us."  
  
Leo stormed off leaving Kia standing in the sewer tunnel.   
  
"David gave me that medallion." She whispered and began to sprint after Leonardo. After a few steps she stopped. Nearby was a manhole ladder. It led to the topside world. Where David and these foot soldiers were waiting to claim their prize.  
  
Well she wouldn't give it to them. Wadding through the sewer water Kia gripped the ladder and began climbing.

* * *

  
  
Splinter sighed and relaxed on the couch, switching off his favourite program.   
  
As though they knew exactly when to interrupt his solitude, his sons returned. They skidded in on their bikes, boards and blades, flying over jumps and grinding on poles.  
  
"We're back!" Mike called unnecessarily, "Oh Master Splinter?"  
  
"Oh there you are." Donatello found him, "Where's Leo?"  
  
"Still brooding in his room no doubt." Raph muttered, folding up his blades.  
  
"He went for a walk." Splinter said simply.   
  
"Walking?" Mike shivered as though it was unheard of, "What about Kia? Where's my favourite human?"  
  
"She has also gone for a walk." Splinter sat up and poured himself some tea.   
  
Mike looked at Don.  
  
"Man. Everyone's got this walking thing happening."  
  
Raph had picked up on the more subtle message.  
  
"You mean Leo's gone walking with Kia."  
  
Splinter sipped his tea.   
  
"Oh man!" Mike yelped, "Why didn't I think of that?"  
  
"That's because you don't think." Don laughed and cuffed him over the head, "Nice one Leo."  
  
"If he's got enough sense to actually make conversation." Raph chuckled, "He goes mute around her."  
  
"That is not altogether a bad thing." Splinter remarked, "Then we would have some peace around here."  
  
The archway doors ripped opened and Leonardo came running in.  
  
"Right on cue." Mike clicked his three fingers.  
  
"Nice walk?" Don grinned.  
  
Leo flicked them a cold glance.  
  
"We have a problem." He explained, "Kia's been wearing a watch with a tracking device in it."  
  
"What?" Raph exploded.  
  
"It gets worse." Leo looked at his Master, "It was in the shape of the Shredder's symbol."  
  
Splinter's eyes narrowed while Donatello muttered,  
  
"Oh shell."  
  
Mike scratched his head.  
  
"Does this mean she's a good guy or a bad guy?"  
  
"I don't know." Leo turned around to look behind him and jerked, "Where is she? She was right behind me!"  
  
"Maybe you lost her." Mike suggested.  
  
"Or maybe she's done a runner." Raph growled, "She's gone topside."  
  
"We don't know anything for sure." Donatello stopped them, "Only save that the lair is safe from being discovered."  
  
"How Donny?"   
  
"I set up a dampening field around the lair to stop any unauthorized signals getting in or out." He looked at Mike, "That's why you haven't been able to pick up that mud wrestling channel on twenty three."  
  
"I did wonder." Mike mused.  
  
"So the only time the tracking device has been in use was when Kia left the lair." Raph surmised, "Would she know her way back?"  
  
"We walked all over." Leo shrugged, "I'm not sure."  
  
"There is only one thing to do." Splinter stood up and gripped his walking stick, "Bring her back."  
  
"What about the lair?" Raph called, grabbing his sai's.  
  
"Security is pretty good." Don ran to the door following his brothers, "Master Splinter, lock down tight and don't let anyone in!"  
  
"My sons." They paused in the door way, "Be safe."  
  
They nodded and sprinted away.

* * *

  
  
Kia pushed up the manhole cover with difficulty. It was quite heavy.   
  
Looking around, feeling like a fugitive, she clambered out and onto the street still wet after a later afternoon shower. Now the moon was out, glistening off the pavement, creating shadows everywhere.  
  
Kia rubbed her arms, cold with nerves and not the weather. Timidly she looked around, heading towards the side of the road.   
  
There was a rustle behind her and she spun around, backing up slowly, her heart beating so fast it hurt. A cat leapt out of some boxes, hissed at her and scurried away.  
  
Kia closed her eyes and sighed.  
  
Then ran straight into a hooded man with glowing eyes.  
  
She yelped, a hand clasping over her mouth instantly as she was dragged into the side alley. It was filled with one truck, lots of rubbish and many hooded men staring at her.   
  
Kia was pushed into the middle of them. Shaking she looked around.  
  
"What do you want?" She demanded, her voice trembling.  
  
One of the men stepped forward.  
  
"Hello Kia."  
  
"David?" She gasped and he pulled his mask off, "You're part of this?"  
  
"Yes." He said simply, "A big part, if all goes to plan."  
  
"But you're my brother!"  
  
"Kia. I am not your brother." He said coldly, "And you are nobody's sister. But you are going to help me."  
  
Kia glared at him.  
  
"Well you can forget it. I'm not telling you where the rat or his sons are. I won't give you them."  
  
"Kia, Kia. " David shook his head, "What makes you think I was after them?" He reached out and cupped her face, "I was after you."  
  
"Me?" She exclaimed, "Why me?"  
  
"You really have no idea do you?" David chuckled, "You've provoked high interest from my employer. He's going to be very pleased to meet you."  
  
"She's not going anywhere."  
  
The foot soldiers leapt into position, surrounding the four green turtles brandishing their weapons in the alleyway. David smiled.   
  
"And not only have you returned to us Kia. But you've brought an extra bonus as well."  
  
Kia's eyes widened.  
  
"No. I would never…I didn't mean…" She looked at Leonardo whose face was grim, "Leo, I wouldn't betray you."  
  
David shrugged.  
  
"Too late." He grabbed her shoulder and pushed her aside, "Kill them!"  
  
The foot raced into battle.  
  
And the turtles were waiting.  
  
Donatello whipped out his bo-staff, caught two foot off guards, knocking the third for six before catching a blow to the chest and falling back.   
  
Michelangelo wound his nun-chucks around the foot's weapons, ripping them from their hands and flinging them aside. He then proceeded to clip the soldiers across the head, stunning each one where he stood.   
  
Raphael punched, wrestled and rolled, yanking out a sai and flinging it at a soldier coming up behind Leo. He then body slammed the on coming traffic and then got stacked on.   
  
Leonardo sliced and diced, forcing the foot back but also getting away from the safety of his team working brothers. With a lunge he caught one soldier off guard and tossed him aside.   
  
A foot soldier landed a flying kick to his shell and he hit the pavement, knocking the wind out of him. Leo swiveled, grabbed the foot's leg and flung him into a pile of boxes. From his shell up position Leo could see the rooftops filling with numerous ninjas.   
  
They weren't going to get out of this one.  
  
Kia watched from near the van where she'd been pushed. David stood in front of her, gazing calmly at the scene before him.   
  
The turtles were good but they were heavily outnumbered. And the foot were already calling in for reinforcements.   
  
She was going to get them killed.   
  
Suddenly she dove to one side and grabbed a broken, fallen blade. Holding it to her neck she yelled,  
  
"Stop!"  
  
No one heard her at first, her voice barely carrying through the battle fray. She yelled again this time getting David's attention.  
  
His eyes widened and he stepped towards her.  
  
Kia raised the blade and he stopped moving.  
  
"Enough!" He roared and the foot simply dropped their weapons and jumped back.   
  
"Who called time out!" Raph roared and got up from the ground. They were all staring at Kia whose hands were shaking, holding a blade dangerously close to her throat.  
  
David swallowed.  
  
"Kia." He reached out.  
  
"Don't!" She yelled, "Don't or I swear I will kill myself."  
  
David paused.   
  
"What do you want?" He demanded.  
  
"Let the turtles go." She explained, "Let them go and I will go with you freely."  
  
Mike glanced at Donatello.  
  
"Not quite the offer made by a traitor." He whispered, "Ow!" Raph had just clipped him over the shell.   
  
David was staring at Kia.  
  
"Four lives for one. Not what I would call a fair bargain."  
  
Kia shrugged.  
  
"Alright." She lifted the blade.  
  
"Don't!" David yelled, betraying her importance, "Alright. The turtles may go. You will come with us."  
  
"I have your word on that?" Kia demanded.  
  
David clicked his fingers and the foot disappeared, melting into the shadows and vanishing from the rooftops. A few remained and they clambered into the van.  
  
Looking around Kia glanced at the turtles. They were looking at her in confusion, Leonardo most of all.  
  
"Kia…" He said, stepping forward.  
  
She shook her head and he stopped.  
  
"We're not leaving you."  
  
"I think you are." She said, cursing the tremor in her voice, "Please." She looked at David, "Get in the van. I'm coming."  
  
David got in the back and closed one of the doors. The other still open he waited for Kia to back towards the van. She did so slowly, watching the turtles.  
  
"No." Leonardo went to leapt toward her. Raph grabbed his arm, "Kia."  
  
"I'm so sorry Leo." She whispered.  
  
David's arm snaked around her waist and she was dragged into the van. The door slammed behind them and the van exploded into gear, grinding out of the alleyway just missing the boxes of rubbish.  
  
Leo ripped his arm free of Raphael and ran after the van.  
  
"Kia!" He roared.  
  
Suddenly a police car siren wailed and the car flew past them. Leo pulled back into the alley and stood still in the shadows. He hung his head as the police car disappeared down the street, no doubt chasing some second rate crook with no idea of the real battle they were all facing.   
  
Leo held his head in his hands, trying not to lose control of his emotions in front of his brothers. They were standing nearby, not sure how to help him. He wasn't sure that they could.  
  
"Leo." Donatello moved towards him, "We'll find her."  
  
"We won't stop looking until we find her." Raph added.  
  
"And when we do…" Mike left off the end to allow Leo's mind to fill in the blank.  
  
"We're gonna make them pay."

* * *

  
  
Kia was shoved along a wide corridor with large glass windows on either side giving her a glimpse of the amazing technology in process behind them. Soldiers, like the ones who had brought her here wore white lab coats and were busily working on different instruments or studying through microscope.   
  
As she passed with her multiple foot soldier entourage the technicians behind the windows all looked up and stared at her.  
  
All the way down the long corridor, she could feel their stares.  
  
Kia's skin felt cold and she could barely breathe.   
  
With no other way to go she followed David, forcing one foot in front of the next.  
  
At the end of the corridor was a large five sided room with a strange pointy roof. Pale green light filtered through the panels above them, sending an eerie glow onto the two occupants.   
  
Kia hesitated as she saw the first man. He looked like a human tank, built with arms and legs that could crush her with one blow.  
  
Yet he looked at her with respect and awe. And this she found more frightening than if he had glared.  
  
The second man, standing in the shadows, watched her with burning red eyes.   
  
"Master." David greeted and knelt down.   
  
"You have brought me my prize?" The man asked, his voice like a serpent, deadly and accurate. And though he spoke to David, his eyes were on her.   
  
"Kia is yours."  
  
Kia couldn't swallow the lump in her throat and as the man reached out for her she wanted to scream but no sound came out. She was powerless.   
  
The hand, instead of grabbing her roughly, touched her face almost tenderly.   
  
"Kia." He said, stepping into the light, a man of metal blades and ancient power, "My own Kia."


	3. New Enemy

KIA

                                                                                          Part III  
  
Donatello stood in the middle of the lair chamber with his bandana tied around his eyes, blocking his view. His world was silent and dark. His bo-staff creaked in his hands as he tested its strength and he grinned in grim concentration.   
  
Suddenly the attack came from both sides. Don could hear them coming and he swiped out with controlled blows, aiming for the footfalls around him. In his blindness he must have connected with someone's shell.   
  
"Oof!" Mike yelped and spun his nun-chucks around the bo. Don felt the vibration. He was going to lose his bo to Mike if he didn't move fast. Yanking his bo he braced it against his thigh and drew back.   
  
There was a swish through the air above him and then the flying body of Mike collided with Raph.   
  
Don grinned as he heard Raph growl and lifted his bandana. His two brothers were de-tangling themselves. Raph was recovering his sais and glared at Mike.   
  
"You wanna watch where you're falling?"   
  
"You wanna watch where I'm falling?" Mike retorted, "Two birds with one…"   
  
"Turtle." Don chuckled, "You almost had me there Mike. So close but no cigar."   
  
"Good. I don't like to smoke."   
  
Don lowered his bo.   
  
"Anyone for limbo?"   
  
"A new ninjitsu skill?" Splinter asked, emerging from his quarters, tapping his walking stick ahead of him.   
  
Mike shrugged.   
  
"How low can you go?"   
  
Splinter glanced around the lair.   
  
"Where is Leonardo?" He asked.   
  
Immediately Don, Mike and Raph looked guilty. They were conflicted. Tell on Leo or shield him?   
  
"He went topside Sensei." Raph spoke up, knowing that Don and Mike were furious with him for blurting, but also relieved he'd spoke up. They were as worried about Leonardo as their master was.   
  
Splinter sighed.   
  
"Not again."   
  
"That's six times this week." Mike counted on his fingers, "Good thing it wasn't any more. I'd have to use my toes!"   
  
"It's usually the kind of stunt I'd pull." Raph remarked as Splinter walked away toward the kitchen, "But Leo's been acting real strange ever since…"   
  
"We lost Kia." Splinter nodded, "His grief is great. But his disobedience, going to the surface without accountability may leave him vulnerable to the enemy's attacks."   
  
It was strange to hear of Master Splinter talking about Leonardo and disobedience in one sentence. But it certainly fit the picture.   
  
"What else can we do?" Mike shrugged, "We've tried looking for records of her and where she used to live. Nothing."   
  
"It's as though she didn't exist before she met you master Splinter." Donatello added, "Even I hit a wall. How do you find someone who doesn't exist?"   
  
"We wait." Splinter nodded, "I suspect that we will have more to do with Kia in the future than we have guessed. Until then, Leonardo must be called back down."   
  
Raph sheathed his sais.   
  
"I'll go get him."   
  
"Do you want help?" Don offered.   
  
"Nah." Raph shrugged, "I may just hit him and drag him back."   
  
"Then maybe Don could make up some shell shackles to hold him here." Michelangelo mused, "Hey…shell shackles…Oh Donatello!"   
  
Raph chuckled and tucked his shell cell into his belt. He saw his master looking at him pointedly.   
  
"I'll be tactful." He said, getting the hint, "I'm good with tact."

* * *

  
  
The warehouse was silent except for the dripping of water from a leak in the broad ceiling.   
  
Kneeling on the ground, highlighted in a spotlight was a single figure dressed entirely in black except for a red flame mark on the mask of its face. It bore no weapons, nothing to save it from the impending attack coming from all sides.   
  
Abruptly the attack began, assailants flying from all corners.   
  
The single warrior stood up, swinging its fist and spinning on one leg at the same time. From this position it went into a single arm backflip, split kicking upside down and then landing to let fly three blows and then kicking backwards.   
  
Moving faster than the eye could keep up it ripped into its foes, sending each of them flying. Liquid in form, fluidic and perfect, it operated seamlessly to damn all of its enemies to the floor.   
  
Landing in its former position it lowered its head, not even breathing heavily.   
  
Footsteps walked up to it, metal sounding on concrete.   
  
The figure opened its eyes and spun around, slicing through the air to come millimetres from the neck of this latest opponent.   
  
And then stopped.   
  
Shredder viewed the warrior with pride, standing before him with no fear yet respect. If ordered to, it would attack. If ordered to it would step down.   
  
He activated a small panel on his wrist. High pitched sounds flew through the air and the warrior let its hand drop and then stood up straight.   
  
"Well done." He murmured, "My prize." Reaching out he drew the mask off her face, revealing brilliant blue eyes and slicked back black hair, "My KIA."

* * *

  
  
Mike opened a bag of cheese puffs and they exploded over him in a hail of cheesy goodness. Snapping up many of the chip flakes he flopped into the couch and flicked on the television.   
  
Bored he ran through the channels quickly, musing over what program would be best to watch.   
  
He happened upon a news broadcast and paused to hear what was going down topside…perhaps it was up topside…anyway, it would be interesting to hear what the humans were doing…at least until he discovered what he'd done with the television guide.   
  
'…the professor was last seen at his laboratory on Monday night. After leaving his office he disappeared and didn't make the twenty minute drive home.'   
  
"Where's the t.v. guide?" Mike growled and stood up to rip the cushions aside.   
  
'Professor Greyson was involved in the genetics laboratory that has been commissioned to combine both man and machine in ground breaking technology to solve mental disabilities and even overcome physical defects.'   
  
"Donatello?"   
  
"I don't have the guide Mike. Are you sitting on it?"   
  
'Here is a clip from his latest interview with the press…so professor Greyson, the skeptics are calling your idea to combine both technology and the human mind a step too fanatical. What is your response?   
  
Miss Rasp. The irony of these comments is that they are made by people who have never suffered a disability. The technology I speak of is to give people the opportunity to communicate with the world again, to cause limbs and mental functions to work properly. It is the culmination of the human wonder called the brain and the precision of technology that will give these people a chance for a normal life.   
  
What of those reports that claim that technology could be used incorrectly, to create some kind of super human?   
  
Of course there are always downsides to any advance. Look hard enough and you will see faults in the most perfect of prisms. Press hard enough and you can turn anything that was once good, evil. Moderation and wisdom must be used in combining humans with technology. But are you prepared to tell paraplegics they can never walk because of human weakness?   
  
"I found it! It was under my butt all this time!"   
  
"Well…I can stop searching now, can't I?"

* * *

  
  
Leonardo was on top of the largest cathedral in New York. He was squatting like some kind of amphibian gargoyle, balancing on the edge of one of the ramparts. He gazed out at the city which never slept, blinking on and off with thousands of people simply going about their lives without questioning why or what for.   
  
He normally liked this perch above the city, so far above he couldn't be seen yet close enough to feel like a small part of the world.   
  
But tonight it held no comfort. He just felt distant from it all.   
  
And far too close to his anger.   
  
There was a soft thud beside him and Leo knew that one of his brothers had arrived, no doubt with some message from master Splinter ordering him back down below or perhaps to spiel off some kind of advice that he didn't have the heart to hear.   
  
Raphael said nothing.   
  
The last thing you wanted to hear when you were angry was to calm down. That just made it worse. He should know. It was usually Leo's job to drag him back down and wake up to reality.   
  
It was strange being on this side of the sibling ladder.   
  
"I know how you feel." Raph started, trying to frame his opening line tactfully, "Believe me I know. If you wanna talk, here I am."   
  
And that was it.   
  
Leo was surprised at how deeply he was touched at Raph's simple yet effective one liner. Where had he learnt to be so…diplomatic?   
  
Leo sighed and felt the wind whip his bandana around his face. He wished the wind would wipe away his guilt and anger. Even his sorrow.   
  
"I miss her Raph." He said, expressing the entirety of his pain in that one line, "I miss her a lot."   
  
"Yeah." Raph really wanted to say more but for once he was gonna just keep his beak shut.   
  
"It's been over a month with no sign. She's just vanished."   
  
"Leo. We'll find her."   
  
Leo nodded at the view.   
  
"Look at that world Raph and tell me that finding Kia in New York metropolis isn't like trying to find a needle in a haystack, even if she is still on the island." Leo rubbed his head, "And if she's some where else, a needle in a thousand haystacks."   
  
"We've had worse odds." Raph remarked.   
  
Leo looked at him.   
  
"Name one?"   
  
"Oh sure I can't name any…" Raph grimaced and then stood up on the rampart, "You're the optimist Leo. I'm not. You should be able to think of one thing."   
  
"I can't." Leo stood up, "This one's just so…personal."   
  
"And losing Splinter for all those weeks wasn't? Having our home wrecked by mechanical mousers wasn't?" Raphael folded his arms.   
  
"This one's different."   
  
Raph let his arms drop.   
  
"I know. That's why we're gonna try harder than ever." He punched Leo's arm, "I promise."   
  
Leonardo sighed and raised his head up. Raph was right. He had to break this self pity cycle if they were to ever find Kia or at least find out what happened to her.   
  
"You're right Raph." He looked at his brother, "When did you get so good at counseling?"   
  
"I've had a good example." Raph chuckled and jumped onto the sloping roof, "After all, how many times did you have to come after me and whack some sense into my thick skull."   
  
"Hundreds…hundreds upon hundreds." Leo chuckled.   
  
Raph glared.   
  
"Name one."   
  
"Oh sure I can't name any…" Leo shrugged and ducked down after Raph.   
  
They slipped and slid their way down the cathedral rooftops, dropping from one to another, quickly easing their way back into the metropolis.   
  
Halfway down Raph's shell cell beeped and he stopped to answer it.   
  
"Raph. Did you find Leo?"   
  
"Yeah Donny, I found him." Raph looked over at Leo who raised an eyebrow, "Wassup?"   
  
"We need to make tracks for the New York City Zoo. My computer's tied in to the city to the police station radio. Alarms are going crazy down there."   
  
"We'll meet you there." Raph snapped up the shell cell, "Feel like a little exercise?"   
  
"Are you kidding?" Leo somersaulted down a drainpipe, "Bring it on!"   
  
Raph chuckled.   
  
"Nice to have the old Leo back…I'm gonna regret saying that."

* * *

  
  
Donatello peered over the top of the manmade mountain of rocks that served to send a little waterfall spilling down it, creating a forest atmosphere.   
  
Mike jumped up beside him and looked around.   
  
"Seems quiet enough." He whispered.   
  
"Yeah." Donatello ducked down and dragged Mike with him.   
  
Some guards ran past, their radios crackling with static and voices. They swung their lights around the artificial forest setting and then kept running.   
  
After a second the two turtles looked back up.   
  
"They were in a rush."   
  
"Let's follow them."   
  
They leapt down silently and jogged after the humans who ran up ahead, unaware they were being followed.   
  
Suddenly, from out behind an outcropping, someone stepped.   
  
Mike swung out his nun-chucks and Raphael caught the blow in his sai.   
  
"Settle little bro." He chuckled, "Anyone would think you've never seen a turtle before."   
  
"Ha ha." Mike peered over his shoulder, "You find Leo?"   
  
"He found me." Leo stepped up, "Don, did the station say anything about where the alarms were coming from? All seems pretty quiet."   
  
"Give me a second." Don fiddled with his shell cell, tuning it in to the frequency. He listened carefully, "Sounds like there's a problem with the anaconda exhibit."   
  
"Anacondas?" Mike gulped.   
  
"I saw that sign back that way." Raph pointed.   
  
"Double time." Leo whispered and they faded into the shadows and ran towards the building that held the creepiest of creatures, the snakes.   
  
The door was slightly ajar and Raph nudged it with his sai. It swung open.   
  
"Whoever busted this did a good job." He studied it, "Not a scratch. A pro."   
  
"Let's take a look."   
  
Inside the room was quiet, the corridors filled with softly glowing chambers set into the walls that let a little light into the gloomy atmosphere. The computer monitors were all off and the displays were stored away in the storeroom. It was relatively empty.   
  
"Don…are you sure?" Leo walked forward, unsheathing a sword, peering into the darkness, "It looks deserted."   
  
"Except for the bust lock." Raph shrugged.   
  
"I was positive the radio said the anaconda exhibit." Don murmured and crept after his two brothers.   
  
Mike was distracted, trying to read a plaque in the dark. Frustrated he turned on his pen light and jumped out of his skin. Glaring at him were two red eyes in a leathery face, its tongue out in a sinister flicker.   
  
Mike clapped a hand over his mouth and then looked closer.   
  
He relaxed. It was just a picture. Curious he read the snake's attributes.   
  
"Lives mostly on small rodents and mammals. Hmmm…am I a mammal? I don't think so. So I'm safe…likes to strangle its prey." Mike pulled a face at the snake head picture and moved along the row.   
  
Leo, Don and Raph were well ahead by now, checking out the rest of the facility.   
  
"There ain't nobody here." Raph grumbled, sheathing his sais, "Nala. No one."   
  
Mike got real close to the next plaque. It looked so lifelike! Even down to the strange glow in its eyes!   
  
Leo shook his head and then froze.   
  
"Exactly." He gulped.   
  
"Ahhhhhh!" Mike yelled and leapt back from the glass as a snake's head whipped through, snapping just in front of his face, "They've got more brains than to be in here!"   
  
The turtles spun around, flashing their pen lights at the cages. They were all smashed open. And they were all empty.   
  
"Off the floor!" Leo yelled and jumped from a standing position to the railing of the second balcony, "Donatello!"   
  
Don was already fishing in his bag of goodies and brought out a light bomb. He tossed it to the ground and it exploded in brilliant white light. Highlighted in the light were dozens of black slithery shapes that hissed, furious at the bright light.   
  
"Oh shell!" Raph roared and then flung himself back from the railing as a snake had been curled up by his hand on the railing, "Wha…!"   
  
He started to fall and Don stuck out his bo for Raph to grab. Unfortunately there was a snake curled around that and it hissed. Raph let go and dropped to the floor.   
  
"Raph! Get off the floor!" Leo leapt aside as a snake snapped for his feet, "Let's get out of here!"   
  
"Do tell how brother!" Mike tried leaping from rail to rail and screamed as a snake dropped from the ceiling onto him, "Anaconda!"   
  
They dashed madly around, trying to keep back from the snakes that curled around them, slithering at speeds that their legless bodies defied.   
  
"What did we do to tick these guys off?" Raph danced on the floor.   
  
"Who knows? Who cares? We gotta close that door before they get out of here!" Leo ordered, "Donny…"   
  
"Smoke bomb…might hurt them…pepper spray…on a snake?...pigeon puppet…how'd that get in there?"   
  
"Donatello!" Raph jumped back and tripped over a snake to land on his shell. He looked up to see a big one advancing quickly. He grabbed the nearby extinguisher and sprayed at it.   
  
The snake hissed and backed off, angrier than before but less likely to attack.   
  
"Never mind!" Raph shook up the can, "Head for the door!"   
  
His brothers leapt over the top of him as Raph backed towards the door, spraying as he went.   
  
"Yeah, that's right. You just stay right there." He said, flung the extinguisher into the fray and leapt out the door. With a piece of pipe they wedged the doors shut and looked at each other.   
  
"I hate snakes!" Mike growled.   
  
"I don't get it." Donatello murmured, "Why smash the cages and let all the snakes out? What purpose was there in that?"   
  
Leo shook his head and then heard the distant roar of a rather large cat. He felt a shiver go down his spine.   
  
"To keep us from realizing the real prize." He realized, "To the lion cages!"   
  
"Oh no." Mike moaned and ran after them. They paused in the shadows to hide from the legion of humans that were coming to solve the snake problem and then kept going.   
  
The cages were getting larger around them. Larger and stronger. Mike reframed from reading any more plaques. They were just too creepy.   
  
"Which one?" Raph muttered, "There are dozens of dangerous cats here!"   
  
"Ah…guys…" Mike pointed, "Try the cage with the big section missing in the middle."   
  
They stopped in front of the cage and looked through the bleak opening into the darkness of the lion's cage.   
  
A deep throated growl emerged from the shadows and Don gripped his bo a little tighter.   
  
Suddenly the lion leapt from the shadows and the turtles hit the deck, the lion soaring over the top of them.   
  
Leonardo looked up and saw a black clad figure with a red face mask squatting on the top of the cage.   
  
"Hey!" He yelled and then spun around, yanking out his sword at the same time. The lion's teeth clamped down on the blade and Leo strained to keep it back from his throat. It took all his strength to keep the lion off his throat as it chomped on the blade, "Guys!"   
  
"We're on it!" The lion was dragged off by the others and it swiped, nearly catching Raph on the shell. He back flipped onto a park bench and looked up.   
  
A flying kick struck him in the face and he hit the ground. Rubbing his jaw he got up. He saw the figure slide easily into the empty cage and disappear.   
  
"The foot's here!" He growled.   
  
"Only one." Don agreed as he tried to keep the lion back. Mike jumped beside him and spun his nun-chucks in the predator cat's face. It roared and swiped, the chuck smacking his paw hard.   
  
"Lookiey, no touchie." Mike warned, "Someone wanna give me a hand?"   
  
"I'm on it." Don called, "Just keep…"   
  
"It busy?" Mike moaned, "Oh man. Woa!"   
  
Leo felt a shadow pass over his head and he ducked instinctively, rolling and looking up. The lone soldier was clambering agilely over the bars of the cage, a small bundle in its arms. It looked down, glaring at him from behind its red flame mask.   
  
Leonardo's eyes glowered. A foot soldier.   
  
The last time he'd encountered them they had stolen something very precious to him. And he wanted to find out where she was. With a spring he gripped the bars and began clambering up. The soldier almost skipped along the bars with the balance of a cat and the touch of a butterfly.   
  
Leo pulled himself up and aimed his katana at the soldier.   
  
"Stop right there!" He roared.   
  
The figure just stared at him and then dropped from view onto the path below. Leo went to go after him with Mike's terrified yell captured his attention.   
  
"Leo!"   
  
Leonardo tore his gaze away with difficulty and saw the lion take a swiping blow at Mike who turned, the force glancing off his shell.   
  
Leo forced his attention back to the fight and jumped down, grabbing a top bar and swinging out, collecting the lion with his legs and thrusting him off of Mike.   
  
"Drive it back into the cage!" Don yelled, yanking out his blow torch.   
  
Raph tore a park bench off the bolts in the ground. He and Leo played lion tamer to drive the furious cat back into its cage. It roared and swiped but couldn't reach them from their position.   
  
"Donny!"   
  
"Got it. Mike!"   
  
Mike held up the section of bars that had been cut free. Don began sealing the bars in. Torch lights started flashing from down the path.   
  
"Did you hear that?"   
  
"It came from the lion cages."   
  
"Hurry Don." Mike yelped, "We've got company!"   
  
"I can't leave this half done." Don argued, working as quickly as he could, "Just another…Woa!"   
  
Leo grabbed his hand and dragged him around the corner as the security guards appeared, swinging their torches from side to side, trying to spot the trouble makers. In their haste they missed Don's rushed welding job and kept running.   
  
"I swear I heard voices!"   
  
"You're always hearing voices."   
  
"Down by the pond!"   
  
They jogged down to the low walled areas with large ponds and plenty of foliage. One man swung his torch around and shrugged.   
  
"Nothing here."   
  
His friend had to agree. Before they kept running he frowned.   
  
"Did we always have that many giant turtles?"   
  
"Who cares!"   
  
The footfalls drifted away and shadows and silence returned to that part of the zoo. The giant turtles, all curled up on the ground of their habitation, barely moved. Except one who peeked out from behind his shell.   
  
"That was close." Leo flipped his blue bandana off his face and looked around, "Guys?"   
  
Raph got up on one knee and saw Donatello emerging from a pond. He flicked wet weed off his face.   
  
"Mike?" Raph rapped on the shell of the nearest turtle, "That you buddy?"   
  
"Hey dudes!" Mike jumped down from above them and they all sighed, "I think I found a distant relative!"

* * *

  
  
The cages were rigged up to electric wiring that was a luminous blue colour. Inside the first was a lion club lying on its side, drugged to the eyeballs. Tubes ran out of it to a canister sitting in the corner of its cage. The next cage held a vulture that drooped on its low perch, tubes hooked up to it as well.   
  
Crystal green liquid seeped through the tubing into their limp bodies. It gave off a sickly sweet, rotting scent that permeated the room, causing the lab soldiers to baulk as they walked in.   
  
They checked the first two cages, which was their responsibility, sparing little time for the figure in the third cage.   
  
Kneeling on the ground, hunched over with a piece of chipped rock, the figure was drawing. Mindless, formless shapes that had no meaning except that which went on in her mind.   
  
She was so close to the ground she could blow away the loose granules and smudge the lines together.   
  
A shadow fell across her drawing. Instead of looking up she simply shuffled over to one side and kept drawing.   
  
"This is a glitch in the program. It must be eradicated." The voice was deep and sinister, echoing through time's most evil moments.   
  
"It's just an outlet." The other person by his side said, wringing his hands slightly in nervous anticipation, "A way of escaping the enormity of your abilities in its mind."   
  
"It is a weakness." The order was left unsaid, "I want Kia to be ready for orders tonight David. I have an artifact that I want collected that requires Kia's…particular touch."   
  
"Yes sir."   
  
The footsteps echoed away. David remained. He knelt down in front of the cage, his sharp black hair around his face. He watched the woman for a few moments, in strange awe of the mindless drawings of her mind compared to the brilliant and power ability locked away within her.   
  
"Kia." He said sharply.   
  
She didn't look up.   
  
David stood and opened the cage door. He stepped right up to her face and kicked at her hand, sending the piece of rock flying. Only then did she stop.   
  
"Do I have your attention now?"   
  
Slowly she tilted her head to look at him through one eye. It was bloodshot with dark circles underneath it. Her skin looked clammy and her hair was limp.   
  
"Good. I want no more drawings. Do you hear me?"   
  
She didn't say anything. David wondered if she had a mind left when the programming was taken out. She had been a lost child in a mall when he'd first found her years ago. Nameless, parentless and with no past, she was the perfect specimen.   
  
"You did well last night. The creatures are exactly what he ordered. You keep this up, you'll be on the right side of honour." David paused, "With me as your keeper. Rest. You have work to do tonight."

* * *

  
  
Though his wounds had been severe, Splinter had finally recovered and was now ready to refine his sons ninjitsu skills. They were sloppy, having needed to sharpen themselves against his rock like correction. One after another they hit the deck, groaning.   
  
Splinter stood over them, shaking his head.   
  
"We know." Raph muttered, getting up and finding his sais lodged in the wall beside him, "We're not at our best."   
  
"Iron sharpens iron." Splinter said, stepping away slightly and standing in a neutral position, "Again."   
  
The four brothers all looked at each other, unsheathed their weapons and charged.   
  
With lightning reflexes Splinter grabbed Michelangelo's nun-chucks, using the turtle's own force to throw him over his shoulder and go crashing into Donatello. The nun-chuck whipped around Don's bo, ripping it out of his hands before knocking back Raph's flying sais. Raph copped a blow to the shoulder that sent him reeling before Splinter grabbed the hefty stick in his hands and went against Leo's spinning katana.   
  
Leo roared and slammed down on the bo, the wooden beam holding up against the metal blades. Splinter lowered the bo slightly so he could look Leonardo in the eyes.   
  
"Focus Leonardo."   
  
Leonardo growled, twisted a katana, grabbed the bo between them and flung it into the air. But he paused a split second too long and Splinter kicked him in the chest, Leo flying into the nearest column and landing on his face.   
  
"Wow." A familiar voice said from a short distance, "Master Splinter, I wouldn't want to meet you in a dark alley."   
  
They all looked up. April O'Neil stood there with a bag loped over one shoulder, shaking her head.   
  
"Who would want to meet a five foot rat in a dark alley?" Michelangelo wanted to know, "It'd scare me!"   
  
Raph collected his sais and Leonardo brushed the dust off his knees as they stood.   
  
"What did you find?"   
  
April shrugged and let the bag drop by the couch as she sat down.   
  
"David, the man supposed to be Kia's brother, doesn't exist, just like Kia. I went to the radiology centre in person. They have never heard of David." April sighed, "I don't know where else to look."   
  
Leo growled and sheathed his swords.   
  
"How does someone just…vanish?" He demanded.   
  
"Easily. If one does not exist in the first place." Splinter mused.   
  
April nodded.   
  
"There have been reports on the t.v. all day about the robbery at the zoo. A lion cub and a vulture."   
  
"Why would Shredder want those?" Donatello wondered, sitting down next to April, "It's not like they're that dangerous. His foot soldiers could do a lot worse."   
  
"If the Shredder wants them, then he's got plans for them." Raphael argued, "And for that reason, we should be hunting him down."   
  
"Dudes." Michelangelo came out of the kitchen carrying a six pack of cola, "How do we even know the Shredder's behind the catnapping?"   
  
"That lone soldier I saw." Leonardo explained, catching the can tossed to him. He tapped the top and opened it, "It had to be a foot soldier from the way it moved. Flawless."   
  
"Possibly." Splinter nodded, "But only one? Michelangelo!"   
  
Too late. Mike opened the can without pausing and it sprayed in his face. Sheepishly he rubbed the sticky cola off his face.   
  
"It was a perfect opportunity to find Kia." Leo muttered, "If I'd only traced it back to its source."   
  
"Sauce on cola?" Mike shuddered, "Not good."   
  
Leo gave Mike a withering glance as April stood up.   
  
"If you traced that soldier, it could've led you to the Shredder personally. What would you do then?"   
  
Leo balled up his fist and struck a wall. His turtle brothers and April winced at the cracking sound. Splinter shook his head.   
  
"Leonardo. Come with me." He stood up and walked to the archway.   
  
"Master Splinter…" Leo muttered.   
  
"Leonardo!"   
  
Everyone winced, Splinter's tone provoking complete obedience.   
  
Leonardo ground his teeth and stalked away his master. As the doors hissed behind them everyone relaxed.   
  
"I've never seen Leonardo that…tense before." April murmured.   
  
"Neither have we." Don admitted.   
  
"He's gotta relax or we're gonna lose any trail of Kia." Raphael folded his arms, "We need our leader."   
  
"That's rich coming from you Raph. You're always arguing with Leo." Mike poked and Raph frowned.   
  
"Yeah well…I figure it's more fun arguing with him…than not having him at all."

* * *

  
  
Splinter walked Leo down the sewers to a blank spot, an area which didn't flow with sewage anymore. It was moldy and a tad smelly. Leo glared at the ground. Splinter looked around, sniffing the air.   
  
"Give me one of your swords." He said calmly.   
  
Leo did so, barely able to look him in the eye. Splinter took it in his claw of a hand. He stepped back and held it above his head.   
  
"Now attack me. If you can."   
  
"Master Splinter…" Leo murmured, hardly in the mood for a fight.   
  
"I said attack me."   
  
Leonardo folded his arms.   
  
"Why? What point is there?"   
  
Splinter reframed from smiling. There was more of Raphael's anger in Leonardo than the oldest brother of the turtles was letting on.   
  
"Kia is not coming back Leonardo."   
  
"How can you say that? She's out there somewhere at the mercy of the foot and your enemy!" Leo blurted, "She's in pain!"   
  
"Are you sure she's the one in pain?" Splinter walked around Leonardo slowly, "For all we know, Kia is dead."   
  
"No."   
  
"How can you believe that she is alive?"   
  
"I just do."   
  
"Why?"   
  
"I have to!" Leo felt the borrowed sword slide across his shell and in smooth, liquid motion he drew out his other katana and swiped at his master. Splinter responded quickly, countering Leonardo's moves. Now in the heat of battle, Leo put all his anger and frustration into his driving moves against his master.   
  
Splinter only countered, never attacked, letting Leonardo's frustration expend itself.   
  
Leo jumped back, raised it like a lance and sprinted at Splinter. The rat simply sidestepped, stuck out a foot and Leo tripped. Splinter spun, kicking Leo in the butt, sending him crashing into the wall.   
  
Half upside down and wrong way up, Leo lay on the ground, panting. Hot tears were pouring down his face as he put his hands on the ground and pushed himself up. Splinter was simply looking at him.   
  
Leo sighed, his rage evaporating.   
  
"I suppose that was a lesson in letting my anger get the better of me?" He said.   
  
"No."   
  
"Emotions make you weak?"   
  
"No."   
  
"Then what was the point?"   
  
Splinter now allowed a small smile.   
  
"You needed a kick up the backside."   
  
Leo sighed and rubbed his neck.   
  
"I did need that." He admitted, "Master Splinter…"   
  
Splinter held up his hand.   
  
"I know what it is to have loved and lost." He said simply, "The risk is great."   
  
"But so is the gain." Leo sheathed his swords.   
  
"You will find her my son."   
  
"You said she was dead."   
  
"I am sorry." Splinter smiled, "I was reaching for reaction."   
  
Suddenly the lighting in the corridor went out. Leo and Splinter were plunged into darkness. Footsteps came close and they looked up to see a figure approaching with a candle. Mike skidded to a halt in front of them.   
  
"Power black out."   
  
"Just like the time…?"   
  
"Yep. When the foot went skitz over that magic sword." Mike nodded, "Das de one."   
  
"This may be your opportunity." Splinter said seriously, "Quickly."   
  
"Yes Master Splinter." Leo waited until Mike had run back down the tunnel and shadows were falling around him, "Thank you."

* * *

  
  
"What is it?"   
  
"You've never seen a penthouse apartment before?"   
  
"I live in a sewer."   
  
"And watch more tv than the rest of us put together." Don leaned out a little from the shadows of the building across the street from the classy block of apartments.   
  
"What makes you think the foot soldiers would be coming here?" Raph demanded. Leo pointed.   
  
"Lone soldier at two o'clock."   
  
Like a tightrope walker, a single soldier was balancing along a power cable. With the power out, it was perfect to get from one building to another without being seen…if it wasn't being watched by four keen sighted turtles.   
  
Half way across the soldier paused and turned, glaring at their position. Instinctively they all cringed back, hugging the shadows on top of the building. Though the soldier couldn't possibly see them, he was looking directly at their position. Suddenly his steady balance walk on the tightrope became a death defying jog and then a sprint.   
  
Abruptly he leapt, catching hold of another wire and slicing at it with a small blade from its boot. The wire swung him like Tarzan onto the penthouse balcony to land as quietly as a butterfly. Instantly it disappeared into the darkness of the rooms.   
  
All four turtles let go of the breath they were holding.   
  
"Anyone want a go at that?" Raph wondered.   
  
"Anything he can do…" Mike stood up. Leo grabbed him and dragged him back down, "Aw come on Leo! I could pull that off."   
  
"Why when you don't have to?" Leo pointed to Don who was lining up a crossbow with thick wire attached. It flew through the air, sinking deep into the wall by the balcony and releasing spikes to hold it in place. Don clipped it onto the building they were on and pulled out the flying foxes.   
  
"Don't look down." He grinned, jumped, hooked the pulley over the wire and slid down to the balcony. Raph followed then Leo. Mike tossed the pulley aside and used his nun-chucks.   
  
All four stood up on the balcony, Donatello already inspecting the lock.   
  
"Perfect. Just like the zoo." He shook his head and nudged the door open.   
  
The room was someone's own personal museum. The entire level was made up of a human's collection of medieval fighting instruments. Suits of armour, crossbows, blades, axes, daggers, clubs, spiked clubs, whips and the intimidating form of a cannon sitting in the middle at the base of a statue, probably a Greek god of some kind.   
  
"Woa…" Mike looked around, "Human's have some weird hobbies sometimes."   
  
"Shhh." Leo hissed as they crept through.   
  
Raph eyed off the clubs on the wall, imagining that one blow could crush his skull. Donatello flicked on his night vision goggles and looked around.   
  
"See anyone?"   
  
He signaled for silence.   
  
All four stopped. They waited.   
  
Don pointed.   
  
At the far end of the room, a glass case was sent on an iron ore black pillar. Inside was a strange set of silver hand bracelet clasps with a blue stone in the middle. Suspended from the ceiling was the lone warrior. And he was reaching into the case.   
  
Only Donatello could see the laser beams crisscrossing the case, protecting its valuable goods.   
  
Apparently the person who owned this collection had a back up generator just to protect this single piece of equipment.   
  
The soldier reached in, missing the lasers by a hairsbreadth, looping his fingers through the silver chain and gently drawing it up. No one moved. Not an inch. They waited with baited breath to see if this soldier could get it out.   
  
And as simple as a quick snatch, the silver handset was out of the case and looped into the soldier's belt.   
  
"Now." Leo whispered and they charged.   
  
The soldier leapt off the wall to the ground, rolled and spun his legs around. The turtles jumped, missing the trip up closely. The soldier spun, grabbing an Arabian sword.   
  
"All yours Leo!" Raph yelled.   
  
Leo sliced through the air, blue sparks flashing off their blades as they battled closely. At one point Leo clipped the soldier's arm, tearing the black fabric and grazing the skin. Michelangelo snuck in and grabbed at the handset. The soldier forced Leo back, grabbed Mike's hand, walked up his chest and kicked out, ripping the handset back and sending Mike sprawling.   
  
"Do these guy's moves remind you of anyone!" Mike yelled, stumbling over his own dizziness.   
  
The soldier whirled around, grabbing Don's bo as it sailed towards his head. He yanked it, drawing Don closer and then dragon punched him to the ground.   
  
"Like who?" Leo called.   
  
Through the air Raph's sais flew, heading straight for his chest.   
  
And with one in each hand, the soldier caught them.   
  
The turtles stared in disbelief.   
  
"The Shredder for example?" Raph murmured.   
  
The soldier flipped them around in his hands and flung them back at the turtles. They side flipped out of the way, the sais striking the glass case, shattering the enclosure and sending the alarms wild.   
  
"That wasn't my fault!" Raph yelled.   
  
The soldier began to back flip, heading towards the balcony.   
  
"Don't let him get away!" Leo cried, "He knows where Kia is!"   
  
The soldier went faster and faster until it reached the balcony and simply flipped off.   
  
"No!" Leo moaned.   
  
"Bungee jumping without a bungee!" Mike gulped and they dashed to the balcony's edge, Raph wrenching his sais from where they had embedded deeply into the wall.   
  
Below they could see nothing. No sign of the vigilante.   
  
But police cars were pulling up, their red and blue lights flashing below.   
  
"Time we made an exit too!" Don called, grabbing the flying fox and pushing off the wall.   
  
Not waiting for him to reach the other side first, his brothers all leapt on, Mike last. Leo looked behind him and felt a cold shiver. The soldier had grabbed the edge of the balcony in his fall, was now reaching up and slicing the wire.   
  
"Hang on!" He roared, locking the flying fox into place.   
  
Don and Raph did the same as the taut rope became slack and they careened through the air, heading for the opposite building.   
  
But Mike's nun-chuck couldn't lock.   
  
"Woa!" He gasped, grabbing the rope desperately but the end of the rope was approaching faster than he could grab.   
  
At the last second he wound his fingers around it and caught hold, slamming into the glass windows of the building they were tethered to.   
  
"Mike! You okay?"   
  
"Do I look okay?" Mike demanded, a twinge of fright entering his normally jovial tone, "I'd hurry! I haven't got the best of grips!"   
  
The other three clambered to the top and hauled the rope up. As soon as he could, Mike clutched the ledge and collapsed on the good side of safety.   
  
"I nearly was bungee jumping without a bungee!" He shivered, his hands burning from the rope sliding too quickly through.   
  
Don glanced at the burn marks on his hands while Leo peered over the edge.   
  
"This is why I expect you to use the equipment I provide." Don chastised his little brother lightly.   
  
"No time for that. We have to split. Now." Leo ordered. Raph and Don picked up Michelangelo and they dashed for the stairs. Leo risked one last look over at the penthouse building.   
  
The soldier had gone up, not down and stood on the roof top, glaring down at him, the red symbol of the Shredder emblazed on its face.   
  
"You're gonna lead me to him." Leo vowed in a whisper, "And then I'll make you pay."

* * *


	4. Old Friend

KIA

Part IV

Shredder fingered the silver handset, drifting his fi

ngertips over the blue stone in the middle of the chain. He didn't spare a glance for his warrior standing only a few feet away without moving or saying anything.  
  
"Beautiful." He murmured, "Much as I remember it."  
  
David walked over to him, a thin black data pad with straps around it in his hands.  
  
"So that's the weapon of Unuma." He commented.  
  
Shredder flashed him a dangerous look and David lowered his eyes. Clearly, this was nothing to do with him. Two foot soldiers approached, one baring a shiny black box with the red symbol engraved on the top. Shredder laid the handset into the Chinese silk and closed the lid. The foot bowed and left, never once turning their back.  
  
David swallowed.  
  
"Kia performed as expected?"  
  
"Perfectly." Shredder now looked up at the figure before him, "Just as I would have."  
  
David tried not to look relieved. To show relief would be to say that he was stressed or nervous and both of these were symptoms of weakness in the Shredder's eyes. He had lasted by the evil monarch's side for longer than most others by keeping his true emotions buried.  
  
"The dictate station you requested." He held out the data pad with the straps, "With this you have mobile access to Kia's matrix."  
  
Shredder took the data pad and strapped it over his armour.  
  
"These are the standard features." David pointed out, risking sounding like he was telling the Shredder what to do but needing to explain it before he killed Kia, "Modes of attack, weapons…styles. And these give you personal control like stop, attack, pause, kill…we can program anything you want into them."  
  
Shredder gazed over the little device that held so much power.  
  
"What is it to return Kia to its original state."  
  
David reframed from saying that Kia never had an original state and pointed to the blue touch pad.  
  
"What about what it saw?"  
  
"That mode only occurs when the program is shut down. We can't get the voice to function with the chip…yet."  
  
Shredder deactivated Kia and the figure dropped to the ground. With the mask still in place she was blind and groped around, gasping for air.  
  
"Who attacked you?" He demanded.  
  
When she didn't respond he gripped the knot at the back of her mask and pulled it away to reveal plastered down black hair and pale skin. He gripped her around the neck and made her face him.  
  
"Who attacked you?"  
  
Her eyes were bloodshot yet the colour of her pupils was becoming the brightest blue that reflected all that was around her. Without focusing on his face, without even knowing who he really was, she muttered garbled sentences with only one true word.  
  
"Leo."  
  
Shredder dropped her and she slumped on the ground.  
  
"The turtles." He sneered, "Still they thwart my every plan. They are the even present thorn in my side, the nightmare of my perfect dream…Hiya!" He slammed his fist into a wall, leaving broken plaster and cracks in its place, "They must be eliminated!"  
  
"We can use Kia." David suggested, "You wouldn't even need to be present."  
  
Shredder turned on him, eyes blazing.  
  
"You think I'm afraid?" He demanded, "You think that I would hide as I let this Kia do my bidding?"  
  
"No!" David yelped, "I only meant that…Kia…must have formed friendships with the turtles. Why else are they out searching for her? For you? She's their weakness. She can be used against them."  
  
Shredder drew himself up to full height, David's reasoning only just saving himself from a fate worse than death.  
  
"On our terms." He muttered, "We must lure the turtles to us." He snickered as he walked away, "We will tell them what we have done and then destroy them with that knowledge."

* * *

  
  
Donatello broke out the icepacks and tossed one to each of his brothers. They grabbed them, pressing the cold pouches against their amphibian skin. Mike groaned, sure he had a bruise on his face underneath the green complexion.  
  
"I tell you, I reckon that soldier fights like the Shred dude." He muttered, "He even kicks like him!"  
  
"Maybe he's Shredder's son or something." Don suggested and got a glare from Raphael, "Okay, so the creep's incapable of love but he could have a son. We've seen what the genetics lab at his old empire could do."  
  
"They were a slight botch up." Raph muttered, pressing the pack to his thigh and wincing at the pain he invoked, "This one's pure genius if that's what he's done."  
  
"What do we have to do to kill this guy?" Leo demanded, "He seems invincible."  
  
"From our perspective, perhaps." Splinter spoke for the first time, sitting on his favourite couch with an old book in front of him, "But to those like him, he is only human."  
  
"One Shredder is quite enough for this world." Michelangelo protested, "Imagine two or three…or three hundred!"  
  
"I'm trying not to." Raph retorted.  
  
The doors opened and they looked up.  
  
April bearing the best thing they'd seen in forty eight hours. A bag of pharmaceutical products and, more importantly, a five stack high of pizzas.  
  
"I could kiss you!" Mike cried and then cringing as his jaw ached.  
  
"I thought you could use a little…refreshing." April chuckled, setting the bag down and then flinging the pizza's their direction, "Supreme for Leonardo. Meat lovers for Raph. Spicy chicken for Don and a supreme with pineapple and no anchovies for Mike."  
  
Without a word the four turtles hoed into the pizzas, forgetting their injuries. April smiled at Splinter and sat down near him.  
  
"One vegetarian pizza."  
  
"Thank you." Splinter nodded, still pouring over his book.  
  
"Whatcha reading sensei?" Mike asked with his mouth full.  
  
"I am looking for the silver handset that the Shredder now has." Splinter murmured, "It does not appear to be Japanese in origin."  
  
"The penthouse was owned by Robert Gent." April explained, "The man who owns all the docks around the eastside. He's a collector of weapons from all eras and centuries. It could have come from anywhere."  
  
"Did his database have any reference to the handset?" Don wiped the back of his hand across his mouth.  
  
"Nothing. It's like it didn't exist." April found the t.v. remote and stared at it.  
  
"It did exist." Raph growled, "And now the Shredder has it. I can't believe that psycho warrior just leapt off the balcony like that! It's like he has no fear of splatting on the ground."  
  
"Not unless he wants to be road kill." Mike shook his head.  
  
"If Oroku Saki wanted this handset, we can be sure it will only be used against us." Splinter remarked, closing the book.  
  
April pressed the remote and the t.v. station lit up, half a dozen sets glowing at them brightly.  
  
"Whatcha lookin for?"  
  
"The news station." April explained, "I thought Gent might say something in his news interview about the handset."  
  
After fiddling the station switched over and a blonde headed reporter was giving a spiel on the crime spree running rampant through the streets.  
  
"Looks like the purple dragons have been out on the town." Leo nodded.  
  
"And we've been too busy to do anything about them." Raph growled.  
  
"If you chase two rabbits, you will lose both." Splinter murmured.  
  
"Purple rabbits." Mike chuckled to himself and turned his attention to the news broadcast, "She's a pretty reporter." April glanced at Mike who coughed on his pizza, "But nothing on you April."  
  
"Cute Mike." She raised her eyebrows.  
  
"Seriously though. Have you ever thought about being a reporter?" Don asked, "You'd look great on t.v."  
  
"I don't think so." April grinned, "Where's the volume on this thing?"  
  
She turned up the noise factor and the blonde reporter's voice filled the lair.   
  
"…with no signs of the police commissioner or his troops to stop them. There's been an update on the Greyson disappearance. An anonymous call alerted police to the disappearance of Professor Greyson's work colleague, David Carter. Apparently he vanished the same night as the professor but had packed his apartment, obviously preparing for a trip. The two have been invariably linked together. If anyone has any information about David Carter or has seen this man…"  
  
But what to do was lost in the turtle's amazed stare. Up on the screen, for the whole world to see, was the man who had pretended to bee Kia's brother. His serious face with strong cheek bones and crew cut black hair filled their eyes.   
  
Splinter's eyes narrowed.  
  
"Oh please tell me it wasn't just that easy to find the blighter?" Mike moaned, "Turn on the telly and he's there! That's like comic book stuff!"  
  
"He worked for the genetics lab!" Raph stood up, "He's probably been there for years!"  
  
"And he made his professor disappear!" Donatello tossed aside his empty box, "Probably to gain control of the lab!"  
  
"He was also then stupid enough to be reported to the police as missing, with probable cause of kidnapping." Leo said in a somber voice.  
  
All four looked at each other.  
  
"It's a trap." They said simultaneously.  
  
"So who cares!" Raph grabbed his sais, "He's the guy we're looking for! We gotta go after him and maybe then find the Shredder!"  
  
"Dude…go walking into a known trap!" Mike shook his head, "Stupider things have been done…but not many!"  
  
"He's our only link to finding Kia." Don protested, "He's the only one who may know who and where she is."  
  
"They could have a legion of foot soldiers waiting for you." April argued, "You'll be killed! He's just using Kia to get you to come to him. He's calling the shots. It's too dangerous!"  
  
"The risk is great." Splinter murmured, "A serious risk."  
  
"But is she worth it?" Don asked, looking pointedly at Leo who was standing with his hands hanging by his sides, staring at the floor.  
  
"Worth it?" Leo whispered, "Maybe…"  
  
Michelangelo looked at Splinter.  
  
"What do we do sensei?" He implored.  
  
"This is Leonardo's decision." Splinter said firmly, "I will not make it for him."  
  
Leo swallowed and looked up at his brothers. They looked at him with eager anticipation, wanting direction. This was his moment to make a leadership decision.  
  
"No." He said, "We will not go to the genetics lab. We will not walk knowingly into a trap."  
  
Raph folded his arms. Don blinked and Mike looked at them in confusion.  
  
"Leo…We have to do something bro."  
  
Leonardo closed his eyes and rubbed his head where his bandana covered his face. He wanted to go, so badly. It was clear as day that the genetics lab was a trap. But Kia could be on the other side. She could be in need of help, waiting to be rescued.  
  
But not by them. No.  
  
"I said no." He looked up, his face cold and silent, "And my decision stands."  
  
Stiffly he walked towards his room, entered and shut the door quietly behind him.  
  
Michelangelo stared in amazement at the closed door.  
  
"Oh shell." He muttered, "Master Splinter…"  
  
"His decision." Splinter held up his hands, "And sometimes leaders cannot make the decision they would personally want. They must consider all those involved. And if it means hurting themselves, they make it."  
  
"The very reason I'm not leader." Raph muttered.  
  
April wanted to say she was relieved. She wanted to collapse in relief, knowing that the turtles were safe from the Shredder's clutches. But she knew the blow Leo had dealt had been more devastating than any blow, in particular to himself.

* * *

  
  
In the dimness of the lights of the lair, a figure dropped from the second balcony onto the ground level in silence. Eyes glowing in the darkness, the lone warrior jogged towards the doorway and left silently into the sewer.  
  
He had only gone part of the way down when standing in his way was Raphael.  
  
"You think you can just walk out on us, you've got another thing coming." He said darkly.  
  
Leonardo glared at him.  
  
"Out of my way Raph." He said strongly, "I'm going alone."  
  
"What is this? A one turtle show? Going out for fame and glory?" Raph grabbed his arm as he tried to pass him and held tight, "Want to take Shredder out on your own?"  
  
Leonardo glowered at him and his vice like grip on his arm.  
  
"I can't." He admitted angrily, "I'm not going to find Shredder. I'm going to find Kia."  
  
"On your own? I don't think so."  
  
Leo tried to yank his arm free but Raph held on tighter.  
  
"This isn't up for negotiation." Leo snapped.  
  
"Well it deserves explanation!" Raph exploded, "You're just sneaking off in the middle of the night to face hundreds of foot and one ancient creature who can't be killed! Are you insane?"  
  
"I won't let you take the risk." Leo yelled back, "It's my risk to take, not yours!"  
  
"What?" Raph demanded, "Who's to say whose risk it is?"  
  
Leo yanked his arm free and tightened his bandana.  
  
"Kia was…she is personal to me. She is dear to me. I can't explain why, I wish I could, but I can't let her be tortured or held by that monster in a genetics lab. I'm going to free her. But I'm going alone. She's not precious to you Raph. She's not part of your heartbeat. She's not your risk to take." Leo's voice broke and he paused to gain control of his emotions, anger and sorrow mingled together. He closed his eyes for a moment then looked up at Raph with clarity, "I will risk for her. I will risk much for her. I cannot ask you to do the same."  
  
Leo stepped away, striding down the sewer corridor, when Raph's small still voice captured his attention.  
  
"You never had to ask. You're my brother." Leo turned and looked at Raph, veiled by the darkness of the sewers, "And I will risk all that you would risk."  
  
Leo swallowed as Raph walked closer and held out his hand.  
  
"Brothers." He said in a voice that was both gentle yet passionate.  
  
Leo felt a lump rising in his throat and he clasped Raph's hand strongly.  
  
"Brothers." He managed to say.  
  
Suddenly two more hands clapped over the top of theirs and Leo looked to his left and right to see Donatello and Michelangelo standing by his side.  
  
"Brothers." Don grinned, "Besides, whose gonna get you into that genetics lab if I don't go?"  
  
"And whose gonna make all the bad jokes if I don't go?" Mike chuckled, "Face it Leo. You're not going alone."  
  
"It seems I have no choice." Leonardo smiled, relief washing over him like a cool breeze on a hot day.  
  
"Stubbornness is a trait you all share." Splinter said behind them and Leo looked at his master, "I am not to go with you. But I wish you the best my sons."  
  
"Thank you." Leo nodded and looked at the other three, "Shall well?"  
  
"The shell we shall!" Mike banged him on the shell, "By all means fearless leader, lead the way!"

* * *

  
  
The Greyson Genetics Laboratory. It was a glass building built on an old warehouse. The ugly brick structure beneath was used primarily for storage. The lab was on top, glittering in the night light, reflecting everything around it. The glass section was three stories high with a domed roof.  
  
The lab was sectioned off by police fences and lighting. Of course that never stopped four ninja turtles. They leapt off an adjacent building and suctioned onto the side, sticking to the glass with their climbers. Rain was falling so clambering up the wall was very tricky.  
  
At the second storey Donatello pulled out his laser cutters. Expertly he scooped out a piece of the glass. Raph pressed his climber on it and as it came free he tried to lower it gently onto the floor inside the room. It struck the carpet then landed flat. Quickly all four slid inside.  
  
They were in the office section. Carpet floors. Dark computers. Weird forest pot plants.  
  
Leo jogged to the doorway, looked around and signaled their advance. Scoping out that level Leo guessed it to be no more than pencil pushing offices. They headed to the third level by climbing the cabling of the lift shaft.  
  
This floor was profoundly different.  
  
No carpet. No normal computers. And no ugly pot plants. It was clinically clean, having no smell, no distinguishing features and no real character.  
  
Just a long, dark corridor with dull blue lights showing just how long it was.  
  
"I don't like this." Don murmured.  
  
"We're in enemy territory." Mike replied softly, "What's to like?"  
  
"Eyes peeled guys." Leo cracked his fingers, ready to grab his katana, "Mike…don't peel back your eyelids."  
  
They walked out slowly, barely breathing as they looked at the black glass on either side of the corridor, unable to see pat it.  
  
Abruptly the doors hummed closed behind them. They spun around to stare back at the blank wall that had been a door. Suddenly lights flickered and the glass paneling became alive with light and soft blue colour. The corridor they were standing on began to move slowly down, heading towards the distant end. The turtles looked around in confusion, waiting for the attack. None came. Instead a clear, generic voice began to speak above them.  
  
"Welcome to the Greyson Genetics Laboratory." A small room off to the left lit up behind the glass paneling. The turtles looked in curiously as they were treated to a tour of the centre.  
  
"Founded by Professor Greyson four years ago, the genetics laboratory was putting an idea into action. For so long the human mind and technology were worlds apart, unable to marry the two together. Professor Greyson's idea, now a reality, was to court the two ideas until he could marry them."  
  
The holo image of Greyson flickered up before him. He was laughing as he gave a speech at the opening of the centre. He turned, snipping a ribbon and standing in front of the building they were in now. To one side stood David, clapping and smiling along with the rest.  
  
The image faded and a room lit up to their right.  
  
"The idea of genetics and technology was spawned when Professor Greyson, a doctor for many years, realized that human minds were weak. Weaknesses that manifested in mental disabilities, dementia and even physical disabilities like paralysis." Images of bed ridden patients, men women and children, flashed before their eyes, "He proposed that by refining microchips with genetic connections, the human condition could be stabilized."  
  
"Impressive." Don breathed, his breath fogging up the glass. He tried to look back but the conveyer belt ride kept moving them on.  
  
"Sounds creepy." Raph muttered, "When does this merry go round end?"  
  
"Ssh."  
  
"Experimentation on animals began in the labs third year, being able to exert control over the animals and even providing knowledge to them. But only in the last few months has the centre experienced real break through."  
  
A room lit up with holo doctors working at their stations, peering through microscopes, inspecting the tiny micro chips that could be inserted into the brain.  
  
"Using a set of high frequency notes which humans cannot hear, the micro chip could be activated. And using thousands of different combinations, the chip could alter the control, giving the human the ability to control his or her actions, to send signals from the brain to the body and for it to respond. It is the most highly efficient and detailed input/output device created."  
  
"This doesn't sound so bad." Mike shrugged, "He wanted to give people a better life."  
  
"But if you can exert control over yourself just by using high note frequencies…what's to stop someone exerting control over you?" Leo whispered.  
  
"Of course we could make animals do what we wanted. But the ultimate test was to see if a human brain could handle the amount of information required." The voice remarked, changing in tone, "The world of the critics claimed it to be a dangerous innovation, just begging for flaws. What if a super human was created? One who could download data in an instant, know things without studying or even be given a vocation for a day…like a vet."  
  
Leo stiffened.  
  
"The darker side of genetics. Professor Greyson once said if you pushed hard enough you can turn anything that was once good, evil. And we found out exactly how far we could push it."  
  
Suddenly both sides lit up and the turtles went shell to shell in the middle, surrounded by cages of foot soldiers battling it out in front of them behind the glass walls. They were methodical, like mime actors, striking each other with eerie slowness. The soldiers took no notice of them, fighting each other blow by blow.  
  
"By processing data files on every possible fighting style, the information was downloaded into one special chip and surgically inserted into a human mind. It was, in effect, killing intelligence animated. Of course this process will take years to be accepted by the world. But here is one we've prepared ahead of time."  
  
Abruptly the floor simply disappeared below them.  
  
As they fell Raph stabbed his sai into a wooden beam. Don grabbed his leg, Leo grabbed Don's tech bag and Mike clung to Leo's foot.  
  
Mike looked down. He was two inches from the ground.  
  
"Ah guys?"  
  
He dropped down, his brothers following.  
  
They were in a large room. The echo of space was around them and though they had plenty of room, they felt consumed.  
  
Bursting into flame around them, torches lit up like beacons against the walls of the warehouse level showing just how many foot soldiers were lining the walls.  
  
There were hundreds. They stood against the walls, sometimes their lines being three thick and they glared at the four turtles. But they didn't move.  
  
"Why aren't they attacking?" Don whispered.  
  
"You're complaining because they're not attacking?" Mike demanded.  
  
At the far end a small platform was lit up and standing upon that was the horror of horrors.  
  
Leo's skin went cold. Raph gripped his sais tighter. Don licked his lips and Mike tried desperately to think of a pun for that very moment.  
  
The Shredder looked back at them through the darkness that lay between them. He was more potent than ever, glowing with an inhuman light that defied this world. His armour shone, his eyes blazed and he cracked his fingers tightly. Around one forearm was a black data module.  
  
As a side thought, David stood to his right bearing the Shredder's banner, a black drape with the red symbol on front.  
  
"We meet again." The Shredder said, his voice carrying through the silence.  
  
"For the last time." Leonardo said, hoping he wasn't lying. He also hoped he sounded braver than he felt, "Let's end this."  
  
The Shredder stepped off the platform and walked towards them.  
  
Raph shifted anxiously on his feet. Don put a hand on his arm, calming him down.  
  
The Shredder stopped twenty feet before them, standing in the darkness.  
  
"Yes. The end." He snickered and clicked his fingers. A spotlight blazed just to his right lighting up a perfect circle area.  
  
Kneeling in the light was the lone warrior, the red symbol upon his face.  
  
"Stand." Shredder ordered, touching the pad.  
  
The warrior stood.  
  
"I believe this to be a friend of yours." He undid the mask knot and drew it off slowly. With a flourish he flung it aside and stepped back.  
  
Leo's legs went weak as his worst fears were confirmed.  
  
Standing before them was Kia.  
  
"Allow me to introduce Kia." He said in a cold voice, "More appropriately, Killing Intelligence Animated."  
  
Her hair was slicked back and her eyes darkly shadowed. Her pupils were a strange blue colour and they reflected the shocked expressions on the turtle's faces.  
  
"You monster…" Raph said, getting his voice back.  
  
The Shredder ignored him and walked away.  
  
"Come back here and fight Shredder!" Leo demanded, stepping forward. Suddenly Kia side stepped into his path and clawed her hands, squatting in an attack position.  
  
"Kia is me. She is my killing intelligence animated."  
  
Leo looked in dismay at Kia who showed absolutely no recognition towards him. He put both swords in one hand and reached out to her.  
  
"Kia?" He called gently, "Kia can you hear me?"  
  
"Kia. Attack." The Shredder punched in the frequencies and Kia's head tilted as though receiving orders.  
  
"I won't fight her." Leo swore, "Kia…listen to me!"  
  
She began to advance towards him, her face bearing grim determination.  
  
Leo remained firm as Kia stood before him.  
  
"Don't do this Kia. You've got to hear me." He implored, "Listen to me. I'm your friend. Kia…"  
  
"Leonardo?" She tilted her head, "Leonardo…"  
  
Leo's shoulders relaxed.  
  
"Ye…"  
  
Suddenly her hand cracked across his windpipe and the air exploded out of Leo's lungs. Spinning away with the force of the blow he collapsed on the ground, wheezing, trying to breathe. A roar went up from the foot soldiers and Shredder sneered.  
  
Kia didn't give him a second glance. She looked at the other three and began to advance.  
  
"What do we do?" Raph yelped.  
  
"We can't hit her! She doesn't know what she's doing!" Don cried and whipped out his bo to block a blow. He was forced on the defense, backing up constantly, "She's just obeying orders!"  
  
Raph grabbed her but Kia spun around, kicking him twice with her right and then up on the left. He was knocked sideways as Mike ran towards her, spinning his nun-chucks crazily. Kia didn't move.  
  
At the last second he stopped, unsure what to do now.  
  
Kia head butted him and Mike lurched back moaning. She spun around, grabbed Don's bow and flung him aside like a rag doll. With terrifying precision she began to fight them all at once.  
  
Leaping into the air she performed a flying dragon and kicked, grabbing a nun-chuck as she did so, winding that around Raph's wrist, twisting and grinding him to the ground. Out of his sheaths she yanked his sais, twisted and flung them at Leo who was off the ground and advancing. He sliced them aside with his katana and swiped with his sword, trying to get her to back off.  
  
The sword scraped her side, Kia not moving an inch. She punched, cracking his head back, slamming him in the chest and flinging him over her shoulder. Don and Mike ran towards her at once. She leapt, split kicked and while still in the air, slam punched downwards, and barely missed Raph's head as he rolled away.  
  
The chant of the soldiers was deafening, crying for their demise.  
  
"She could've killed me then!" Raph roared, "Why is she toying with us?"  
  
"Because she can." Leo gasped, clutching his throat, "Shredder knows we won't touch her."  
  
Kia sprinted towards Mike. Don pole-vaulted towards her. At the last minute she bent backwards, his kick going right over the top of her. He skidded on the ground, losing his bow to her hands. She snapped it in half, spun it around and began to throw it like a javelin at Mike.  
  
"We can't do nothing!" Raph yelled and balled up his fist. Slamming it into her shoulder Kia was thrown aside.  
  
She rolled, spun and was up on her feet faster than blinking with the broken bow still in her hand, glaring at him. Raph stared in disbelief.  
  
"That would've knocked Mike out!" He shook his head, "Not possible!" He grabbed the tip just before it could strike and tried to wrestle the bo from her.  
  
"It is if her pain receptors are disabled!" Don called, "That's why she's a super human! She can't feel pain!"  
  
Raph went flying.  
  
"Well I can!" He coughed, spitting up blood.  
  
"Any chance of cracking the frequency code using the shell cell?" Leonardo demanded, hurriedly back stepping as Kia ran towards him.  
  
"There are thousands of frequencies and millions of ways of scrambling them!" Don yelled.  
  
Kia twisted past Leo's swords, grabbed his wrist, slammed it on her knee and cracked her elbow back into his beak. Before she could finish him off Mike clutched her in a cruncher grip around her chest. He fell backwards, holding her to his chest.  
  
"Get lucky!" Raph roared at Donatello who was already fiddling with the shell cell.  
  
Kia snapped her head back, striking Mike's jaw. He groaned but wouldn't let go. With strength that was not possible from her small frame she pushed back his arms, twisted and began to pounding mercilessly into his chest.  
  
"Donny!" Leo cried, dragging Kia off Mike. She tried to kick him. He grabbed her foot before it could connect. Kia simply threw her entire  
  
body around, striking him with her other foot.  
  
She landed like a cat, on all fours, and looked at Donatello who glanced up instinctively from his fiddling. She snarled and stood up.  
  
"Ah…guys!"  
  
Michelangelo was trying to get his breath back. Raph was spitting blood, stumbling towards Kia while Leo was trying to stand upright.  
  
Kia went into a roll, scooped up an abandoned sai and hurled it at Don. He turned at the last second, the sai skittering off his shell.  
  
"Kia stop this!" Leo cried, staggering towards her.  
  
She spun around, called by her name and tilted her head.  
  
"You're not like this! You're not a fighter!" Leo felt the world go dizzy and he gulped for air.  
  
Kia sprinted towards him. He went down on one knee and turned. Instead of slamming into his shell she rolled around his shell, tripping him up.  
  
Leo's back to her she gripped his shell, vaulted over the top of him and then tossed his entire body weight over her shoulders, forcing a katana from his hand before he landed heavily.  
  
Within the blink of an eye she landed on top of him, crushed her knees into his shoulders and raised the sword.  
  
Leo's eyes grew wide.  
  
"No!"  
  
Her eyes blazed blue as she brought the blade down.  
  
"No!" Raph, Don and Mike yelled at once.  
  
Kia held the hilt tightly, staring straight ahead. It was as though she couldn't understand what she had just done.  
  
Leo gulped for air, the tip of his own sword suspended just above his throat.  
  
His three brothers were frozen. They didn't dare move in case she continued the blow.  
  
"Donny…what did you do?" Mike whispered.  
  
"I didn't do anything." Don murmured, the shell cell forgotten.  
  
There was silence from the soldiers. And from the platform there was dark anger.  
  
Kia blinked, as though coming back into focus. She raised the sword again and brought it down…only to stop just before nicking his throat.  
  
This time her eyes widened slightly and her mouth opened.  
  
"Leo?" She whispered as though just recognizing him.  
  
Leo couldn't breathe, the air crushed out of him.  
  
Kia breathed labouriously and tilted her head. She was receiving orders. She frowned, swallowing but not following through.  
  
"No!" The Shredder tried again.  
  
Again her head tilted but Kia's unblinking eyes weren't focusing. Blood trickled out her nose. She was losing her grip.  
  
Once more he tried and suddenly her resolve came crashing down. She raised the blade and screeched. The blade grazed the side of Leo's neck, burying itself in the floor.  
  
Her shaking hands let go of the sword hilt and she looked at them like she'd never seen them before. Her eyes widened, receiving orders but she wasn't following them.  
  
Gasping, pain was realized and stricken she collapsed to one side, jerking as the Shredder tried mercilessly to regain control of her fragile mind. Blood dripped from her ears.  
  
"Stop it!" Raph roared at the Shredder as she convulsed on the ground.  
  
Leo bent over her and cupped his hands over her ears, trying to stop the frequencies from entering her mind.  
  
The Shredder cried at the top of his voice, ripped the data pad off his arm and flung it at David.  
  
"Foot!" He bellowed, "Attack!"  
  
Michelangelo, Donatello and Raphael went shell to shell around Leonardo who was trying to soothe Kia's tormented mind. He looked up. The foot were advancing. Kia went limp in his arms. The Shredder had stopped trying. He brushed a strand of hair from her face and stood up.  
  
"Leo…" Mike murmured, looking around.  
  
Leonardo knew it was hopeless. They were half beaten, bloodied and barely able to stand. Now they had to fight their way out of a room full of soldiers. He yanked his sword out of the ground and bared them together.  
  
"It's now or never." He muttered, "Brothers?"  
  
"Always." Raph nodded.  
  
"Definitely."  
  
"Affirmatory." Don pressed a button on his shell cell and looked up.  
  
The foot were only a few feet away now, crushing them with their inevitability.   
  
Suddenly the world seemed to end. Bricks and mortar went flying from a wall as an armoured truck crashed through. The foot scattered as beams fell from the ceiling, the support structure of the building above losing strength.  
  
"No!" The Shredder screeched as the truck barreled through the rows of soldiers, skidding around the turtles and through another wall, "Stop them!"  
  
In the confusion Leo scooped Kia up in his arms and he dashed after his brothers who were following the fleeing foot soldiers as the building collapsed around them.  
  
The rage filled scream of the Shredder echoed off the walls of the buildings nearby and police sirens were already careening towards them. As the human officers ran towards the genetics laboratory, the warehouse level collapsed, bringing down the other three levels with it. Exploding glass and bricks shot out toward them and they leapt back.  
  
"What did this?" One man yelled.  
  
"Was anyone in there when it happened?"  
  
"Let's hope not."  
  
They didn't see the shadowed figures blending into the night light, disappearing from view.

* * *

  
  
The rain was falling heavily and it was a dangerous climb to the top of the cathedral. But it was the safest place for the moment.  
  
Michelangelo peered over the edge of the rampart between two ugly gargoyles. He could see the red and blue flashing lights of the police. Patrol cars were filling the streets, trying to find them.  
  
"It's a hot town tonight." He remarked.  
  
Leonardo gently laid Kia down on the concrete, keeping a hand underneath her head.  
  
Her eyes were closed, her face bloody and bruised. Scoured on her side were a few cuts and wounds. Blood had dried in her ears and from her nose. A little still trickled out of her mouth and her skin was as pale as the under belly of a fish. The rain swept back her hair, cleaning some of the blood off.  
  
Leo touched her chin.  
  
"I feel like yelling sanctuary at the top of my lungs." He choked.  
  
"I wouldn't." Raph muttered, looking over the rampart with Mike, "We've stirred the town up enough for one night."  
  
"Is she gonna be okay?" Don knelt down.  
  
Leo shook his head.  
  
"I don't know. She won't wake up."  
  
"What do we do?" Raph demanded, "Where do we take her?"  
  
"She needs a hospital and doctors." Leo murmured, "She could have anything. Internal bleeding, broken bones…anything. If we don't take her, she could die."   
  
"If we do…" Don put a hand on his shoulder, "They'll X-ray her. They'll find the microchip."  
  
"Besides, that's where the foot would look for her first." Raph agreed, "If they don't get her, the humans will turn her into an experiment of some kind."  
  
"I don't remember you being a doctor Raphael." Mike retorted, "If she doesn't get proper medical attention…"  
  
Leo wiped the rain off his face and looked up.  
  
"We take her to the lair. Master Splinter will know what to do. Hopefully he made it back with the battle shell in one piece." He stood up, feeling his body protest, aching from the battle, "Don. You and Raph go to a pharmacy and get some supplies. Mike and I will go through the cathedral drain and meet you at the lair."  
  
Without a word Don and Raph leapt over the edge of the rampart, sliding down towards ground level.  
  
Leo lent down and gently lifted Kia up.  
  
"We'll take the stairs." Mike suggested and kicked opened the barred door at the top of the cathedral.  
  
Leo paused for a moment on the rampart, letting the rain wash away his pain.  
  
"Sanctuary." He whispered.

* * *

  
  
Splinter knelt down by Kia's side. She was laid in his bed, limp and broken with no sign of life. Out of the bottles his sons had procured he selected a few and found the bandages.  
  
"Hot water. Clean cloths. Green tea." He ordered and his sons hurried to obey.  
  
Gently he bathed her face, his sons watching intently over his shoulder.  
  
"Leave my sons." He said, knowing that they wanted to see if she would be alright. But he couldn't work with them breathing on his neck.  
  
"Master Splinter…" Leo protested.  
  
"I said go!" Splinter barked and they deserted his room reluctantly. Splinter knew instinctively that they were only just outside, sitting before his door, waiting for news. But he had to blot their pain out of his mind for just a while as he concentrated on Kia's brokenness.  
  
"Just as you once watched over me." He murmured, "So I will watch over you now."  
  
He cleaned and bound her wounds, removed the bloodied black robes of the Shredder and laid a warm blanket over the top. Some where in her confused mind, Kia must have known she was safe as she breathed deeply and relaxed into the bed.  
  
Like a father Splinter stroked her face, running his fingers through her hair just to let her know that he was there for her.  
  
His claws brushed against an old scar. He lifted the hair aside and saw where the surgery had been performed to insert the micro chip. Kia frowned and cringed in her unconsciousness.  
  
Splinter took his hand away and sighed.  
  
He got wearily to his feet and hobbled out to the lair. His sons had fallen asleep at the door way. Raph was snoring softly, leaning against a column. Mike was leaning on him, muttering in his sleep. Don had collapsed on the floor, half curled up using his arm as a pillow. Leo was leaning against his shell, slowly drooping towards the ground.

* * *

  
  
His sons were not stupid. They knew it would take many days for Kia to heal. Her wounds were grievous and not just the wounds of the body of which they had unwittingly afflicted. But the battlefield of her mind was a wreck. She drifted in and out of consciousness, barely able to eat, never opening her eyes.  
  
Splinter did not say it to his sons, but he feared she would never wake up. She had taken far more than physical blows and perhaps, in her mind, it would be easier to give up than to fight through the chaos of her mind.  
  
For three days Splinter barely left her side. For three days his sons sat outside the door, waiting anxiously.  
  
On the fourth day Splinter sighed, took up his walking stick and hobbled outside.  
  
All four looked up expectantly.  
  
Splinter gazed at them.  
  
"She is past the worst. She will live."  
  
Raph closed his eyes and breathed a silent prayer. Don felt a lump rise in his throat and turned away. Mike cried yes and nearly collapsed in relief. Leo stood up, tears pricking his eyes.  
  
"Can I see her?"  
  
"Not yet my son." Splinter put a hand wearily on his shoulder, relief filling his body as well, "Not yet."  
  
"When?"  
  
"She needs time."

* * *

  
  
How much time, Splinter mused, he didn't know. He still spent a great deal of time by her side but took moments aside to attend his sons. Some sense of normality began to creep back into the lair.  
  
April visited with some clothes for Kia. Casey dropped by with news of the surface world. His sons practiced slowly, recuperating from their ordeal.  
  
Splinter watched this from his doorway. He then shut the door and knelt down by Kia. Her back was to him as she faced the wall. Tentatively he reached out and stroked the scar on the back of her head.  
  
"The wound goes deep." She croaked.  
  
Splinter smiled sadly.  
  
"It has healed."  
  
"Perhaps some wounds are not of the body..." She turned and looked at him, "But of the heart." A well of tears was threatening to break loose but she swallowed them down painfully, "Who am I?"  
  
"I do not know." He answered truthfully.  
  
"Neither do I. No one does." She rubbed her eyes. They had returned to a pale blue instead of the brilliant blue of before, "I have no memories. Nothing of my life. Except the few days I was here before. That is my past. That is all I remember."  
  
"It's a start." Splinter smiled, touching her face, "You also have this." He laid some sheets of paper into her lap and Kia fingered them.  
  
They were the sketches she had done the last time she was there. Grazing pencil marks across the pages, dark and light, blurred and crisp they depicted her time in the lair. Tears trickled down her face, splashing onto the pages. In her sorrow she put them aside.  
  
"I don't even know if that is my gift…or if it was programmed into me."  
  
"It is you." Splinter said firmly, "A part of you they couldn't erase." Kia sighed, "Leonardo wishes to speak to you."  
  
She froze, clutching the blanket around her.  
  
"I can't see him." She shook her head dismally, "No…not now. Not yet. Maybe not ever."  
  
"That is your decision. One that is your own to make."  
  
Kia swallowed.  
  
"What do I do now? Where do I go from here?"  
  
Splinter got to his feet and gripped his walking stick.  
  
"That is up to you. But you will always have a home here, my daughter." He tapped to the doorway. He paused and looked at her, "Would you like some green tea?"  
  
She gave a small smile.  
  
"That would be nice."  
  
She lay back down and faced the wall. Splinter guessed she would be asleep before he returned.  
  
He closed the door behind him and saw Leonardo standing before him, imploring him with his eyes. Splinter nodded and walked away.

* * *

  
  
Kia heard the chink of china in her dreams and opened her eyes blearily. Her body felt so tired though she slept for so long. But she was thirsty.  
  
"Tea for two?" She whispered and rolled over. And froze.  
  
Leonardo was kneeling by her side pouring the steaming liquid into the cup. He could barely look at her, staring instead at the green tea that swirled around.   
  
Kia gripped the blankets tightly around her as though they would offer some kind of protection. All she could see before her was someone she had nearly killed. And that thought filled her with dread.  
  
"Leonardo…I'm sorry." She blurted at the same time as he said,  
  
"Forgive me Kia."  
  
She frowned.  
  
"What is there to forgive? You rescued me."  
  
Leo set the cup down.  
  
"I turned my back on you in the sewer, when I thought you had betrayed us."  
  
Kia shook her head.  
  
"I had betrayed you." She protested.  
  
"But not willingly." He argued, "You didn't know what control they had over you. But I accused you…I lost my temper at you."  
  
"It was understandable. Leo…I was about to lead the foot to your doorstep with or without my knowledge." She forced herself up on one elbow, "I was about to kill you. I was about to destroy you and though I could see it happening I couldn't stop."  
  
"You did stop." Leo finally looked into her eyes, "You did. You destroyed the control they had."  
  
"For that moment." Kia shook her head, "What happens if it reactivates? Who will I hurt the next time? Whose life will I destroy?"  
  
"You stopped." Leo insisted.  
  
"Because of you." She confessed, "Only because of you. Will you always be there? Can you say that you will never leave my side?"  
  
Leonardo wanted to say he would. He wanted to declare it to her. But the words got lost in his throat.  
  
"I'm a danger to those around me." Kia lay back down, her strength leaving her as quickly as it had come, "A bomb with no timer."  
  
"You're a beautiful young woman." Leo professed, "Who has a whole life to live before her. And you can live it here. You can stay with us and we'll help. Donatello could invent a dampening field for the chip. We could learn how to dismantle it. You wouldn't have to leave us…" She looked away and he felt his hand take her chin and look at her, "Me. You wouldn't have to leave me." Tears were dribbling from the corners of her eyes and dripping off her chin. He swiped them away with his thumb, "I don't want to lose you."  
  
"I…" But Kia's words were lost as she kissed Leonardo's lips. It was brief but filled with longing. Longing that she would stay. That he wouldn't lose her.  
  
As she sank into the cushions his hand moved from her face to clasp her hand and rub his thumb over the top.  
  
"You won't lose me." She whispered, exhaustion sweeping over her, driving away all her energy.

* * *

  
  
Late one night, only a few days after Leo's visit to Splinter's quarters, the master's doors opened silently.  
  
A figure slowly crept out of the room into the darkness of the lair. She avoided the pockets of dim light, keeping to the shadows. On the small coffee table she left some papers. Silently she opened the archway and glanced back.  
  
From the second balcony Splinter watched, his eyes glowing yellow in the light. Whether or not she saw him, he didn't know. If she did, she didn't show it.  
  
Like a shadow herself she disappeared into the sewers.

* * *

  
  
Splinter sat on his chair sipping tea and reading a book when his sons finally decided to join the world of the living. Yawning and scratching they stumbled out, not even awake until their first coffee.  
  
Leonardo went immediately to Splinter's quarters and peered inside.  
  
Splinter sighed and turned a page.  
  
A split second later Leo came running out.  
  
"She's gone!" He looked at his three brothers, "Kia…she's gone."  
  
"What!" Don yelped and ran to his computer, "Impossible. The door alarm didn't go off!"  
  
Mike pointed to the severed cabling.  
  
"Could that have something to do with it?"  
  
Leo yanked his swords off the wall where they were kept.  
  
"We have to go after her."  
  
"Leonardo." Splinter looked up, "She's gone. Let her go."  
  
"What!" He exclaimed.  
  
"Sensei, you can't be serious." Raphael exploded, "She's not well enough to go anywhere! We have to find her and bring her back!"  
  
"She knew what she was doing." He responded calmly.  
  
Leonardo shook his head.  
  
"No." He swore and started towards the door. Then he stopped and turned, "You knew she was going to leave."  
  
"She made a choice." Splinter nodded, "She has gone to find herself."  
  
He sank to his knees.  
  
"Will she come back?"  
  
"When she finds herself." Splinter stood and gestured to the small sheaf of papers, "She left a gift."  
  
Don picked up the pages and looked down at them.  
  
"Her sketches." He handed them out, "She drew us all. Master Splinter, Raphael, me, Mike…" He looked up, "Yours isn't here Leo."  
  
Raph frowned, gazing at his sketch.  
  
"Perhaps…perhaps she wanted to take you with her." He said.

* * *

  
  
The trucky glanced over at the young hitch hiker he'd picked up. She looked young, younger than any he'd seen before. Her black hair cupped her face where the collar of the jacket wasn't up around it. She didn't have much with her. Just the clothes she was wearing and the piece of paper she kept staring at even when the road lights didn't give nearly enough light to see by.  
  
"So what are you running away from?" He asked in a deep voice.  
  
She touched the page gently and looked up.  
  
"Is it still running when you mean to return one day?" She asked quietly.  
  
"Sounds more like a journey."  
  
"Then I am going on a journey." She glanced over her shoulder at the disappearing horizon of New York, "And one day I will return."

End


End file.
